Forced Love
by Annibelle White
Summary: To get rid of their disfigured daughter once she's 18, Melena and Frex arrange a marriage between the prince of the Arjiki tribe, Fiyero, and their daughter, Elphaba. She considers running away, but the marriage deal includes Shiz, and she can't refuse.
1. Prologue: An Arrangement

**Prologue: An Arrangement**

Frexspar sat at the table, pen in hand, struggling to write a letter. His pregnant wife was lounging on the couch. After thinking for a moment, he groaned and put down the pen. "What am I supposed to write? 'Please agree to arrange a marriage between your royal son and our eminent green deformed daughter'? That doesn't quite work!"

Melena shrugged simply, "They don't have to know she's green."

Frex smiled for a moment, "That young boy, he's about the same age as Fabala, right?"

"Why else would you be writing that damned letter? We need to do something about the child. It's not as if she's going to marry anyone else, anyway," Melena waved her hand dismissively.

"How should I address them? 'Your Highnesses of the Arjiki Tribe'?"

"And make sure you stress that Elphaba is to be Eminent Thropp. Mention that it'll be a great idea for the east and west to join together, blah, blah, blah…"

Frex nodded and went back to his writing. Within less than an hour, the letter was written and placed neatly in the doorway, as to be picked up in the morning by the mailman.

A month later, Frex received a letter in response. Melena could hardly contain her glee. "So, are we to be rid of her upon her eighteenth birthday or not?"

Scanning the letter, Frex mumbled things aloud, "Their son, Fiyero, is to go to Shiz the year he turns eighteen. However, he turns eighteen over the summer, which leaves time for the wedding. She'd have to go to live with him, possibly in an apartment while he goes to school, or she could even go herself. They have just changed the laws about women going to college."

"But they agreed?"

"Yes."

And so the deed was done.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  
Okay, guys, I know you're all mad at me for leaving my other stories and daring to start a new one, but I can't seem to write, and this has been in my head for a while, and I might as well write _something_ rather than nothing. Please, forgive me. Maybe this will get me writing on my other stuff, too. This might sort of seem like a few other stories that are going on, but believe me, it'll go much differently.


	2. Chapter One: Resignation

**Chapter One: Resignation**

Elphaba sighed grimly and looked out the window of the carriage she shared with her Nanny, reminding herself that there was still time to escape and disappear. She'd known of this impending marriage since she'd been old enough to understand what such a thing meant, and her thoughts on the subject were mixed.

She didn't know this boy – this man – this Fiyero. How could she be expected to marry him less than a day after meeting him? But her family couldn't afford to send her to Shiz University alone, and if she ran away, she certainly would not obtain much higher education. But still, was college worth that much to her? What if he was a terrible man, an unfair or abusive husband? Well, she resolved, she could always run later on…

"Fabala," Nanny interrupted her thoughts, "I wish your mother was alive for this."

Elphaba cocked her head. It had been years since anyone had dared to even mention Melena. "What?"

"There's a talk that goes on between mother and daughter previous to a daughter's wedding night, and she's not here to have it with you. Your father's incompetent, so it's been left to me."

Elphaba knew very well what her Nanny was going to speak with her about. She swallowed hard and hung her head, "Okay."

"On every young woman's wedding night, it is expected that she allow her husband to make love to her. If she is a virgin, which I am assuming you are," Nanny eyed Elphaba as she nodded fervently, "she will bleed. It will hurt. Often times, the blood on the sheets is used to display to the town the evidence of the young lady's virginity and deflowering."

Elphaba was thinking about running away again.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, dearie. Sex gets better. But a wife must, at least in this situation, for a while, obey her husband's wants. She must be willing to engage in intercourse whenever he pleases. After some time, once you two have gotten into married routine, you might be allowed to take control, depending on how your groom was raised."

Elphaba was thinking to herself that this was going to be an extremely difficult task. But no matter what happened, she had to remind herself that she was getting a free ride to Shiz. That would make everything easier to endure. Avoiding eye contact, she murmured, "Yes, Nanny."

"And so you have to make love with your new husband tomorrow night, understood?"

She paused. How could she give her body to someone she didn't even know? No, she shouldn't think about that. He would never have her essence, and that was what counted, "Understood."

"If a young woman's virginity is in doubt and her wedding night does not prove it, she's often stoned to death by the town, you know."

It was clear to her. Nanny was trying to make her understand that she could not put off sex for even one night, or her life would be in jeopardy. Elphaba didn't answer Nanny and stared out the window. The weather should've been dreary and stormy, like Elphaba's mood. She was not surprised to see that so far, it was not. Nothing and no one understood her.

Not far from where Nanny and Elphaba sat in a carriage headed west, Fiyero was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. He was supposed to get up in half an hour to prepare for the arrival of his bride-to-be and her family. The sun hadn't even risen yet. Unlike Elphaba, Fiyero had no definitive feelings about the approaching marriage. It was custom, and he didn't see how it was wrong. Everyone he knew had done the same.

Still, he knew it would be awkward. Having talked with his father, he was well aware of what was to go on in the bedroom after the wedding, and it seemed strange to him to do such a thing with a girl – woman – he didn't even know. They were to be introduced this morning, and by dinnertime, they were to be wed and joining in the festivities with the rest of the tribe. But it struck him as odd, though he couldn't figure out why.

He sighed and rose from bed. Thinking about such things would only make it worse, he knew. And so he headed towards the closet and took out one of his more formal outfits and began to dress. There was nothing else to do, anyway.

It wasn't long until he was downstairs, waiting with his parents and two siblings, twin boys, for this "Elphaba" to arrive. When she did, he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

He didn't hear what his parents said, or what her parents said, or what anyone said, all he saw was the strange, exotic green woman in front of him. She had deep black hair, braided back behind her, though he wondered to himself what it would look like if it were left free to tumble about her shoulders. After a moment, he realized she was becoming uncomfortable because of his staring and he shook himself out of his stupor and took her hand, bowed and kissed it, as he'd been told to do.

Elphaba was just as stunned as Fiyero. She'd been told that people in the Vinkus looked different than those in Munchkinland, Gillikin and even those in Quadling country, but the diamond markings on this boy's ochre skin were… elegant? There was no way she could find to describe them that might not betray her feelings. He was taller than her by a good few inches, somewhat well muscled and his eyes were as startling blue as the diamonds on his skin. Though she didn't stare for as long as he did, she certainly had a moment, too.

"I'm Fiyero," he said quietly, almost shyly. "You must be Elphaba."

"Yes," she nodded, flushing.

Fiyero's mother clapped her hands together, "Well, now that we're introduced, why don't we all sit down in the living room and chat for a bit before we get ready?"

Several couches were arranged in a circle in one of the many stone rooms of the castle. Both families sat so it was inevitable for Fiyero and Elphaba to sit next to one another, though at opposite ends of the couch.

While their parents spoke, Elphaba whispered to Fiyero, "I hope you know I'm only doing this because I have to, and because of Shiz."

He blinked, taken aback. Women were not usually that bold. "I'm sorry," was all he could think to say.

Elphaba cocked her head at him, shocked at his strange response. Suddenly she felt bad for being so rude, "I mean, you might be a nice person and everything, but I don't know that as of now, and so I really don't have much other reason to do this."

"Of course," he murmured, "I understand."

"So you see, I'm resigned to the fact that this must be."

Fiyero placed a hand over Elphaba's, unsure of what he was doing, "Maybe, in time, we could come to respect each other like the way of husband and wife?"

Elphaba shrugged and pretended to simply ignore his hand, "Perhaps."

"I'm excited to go to Shiz this fall, too," he smiled.

"What are you going to study?"

"Business and economics. Father says it is what I need to study to run the kingdom. What about you?"

"I'm not sure. I think I'll decide when I get there and have taken a look at things and tried a few things. Do you actually want to study business and economics?" Elphaba couldn't help it; she was curious about his way of life. Why shouldn't she be? After all, she was going to marry him.

"I'm simply glad to be studying anything. I don't exactly love schoolwork, but, for the most part, learning can be interesting."

Elphaba saw that they might have something in common. But then she remembered what was to happen that night, and she thought talking and making friends with Fiyero would make it all the more uncomfortable. Although he wanted to continue the conversation, she ended it there, swallowing hard and trying not to think of what was to come.

* * *

**AN: Okay, guys, I don't know how I feel about this chapter. I started out with the intention of them not even meeting one another yet, and then there was practically a page of that. I do think I like the interaction between the two, but I'm not sure. Tell me what you think. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and for being so understanding. I appreciate it and I promise that I will not forget my other stories. Sometimes starting a new story can help me get some work done on others. It always seems to work that way, at least for me. Thanks all of you!**

**P.S. I hope the whole beginning with Nanny and Elphaba wasn't too... awkward. Well, wait, I do, because that was the point, but you know what I mean!**


	3. Chapter Two: Expectations

**Chapter Two: Expectations**

And so they were wed. They danced and swirled around the castle ballroom, as was custom, and everything looked to go as normal as ever. No one caught on that the reason the couple was so enthusiastic to engage in the festivities was only because they wanted to put off the actual night as much as possible. But they couldn't do so forever, and it wasn't nearly long enough (for either one of them) before they were standing in the doorway of a bedroom, silent.

The door behind them shut and the two refused to look at one another. Fiyero, though, stole a quick glance at his new bride and wanted to comfort her, but was afraid to touch her at all. She looked so different than how she had when he had met her only that morning. It had seemed that she was never unsure of herself, but now that was proven wrong. There was no mistaking that she was incredibly uncertain and afraid.

When the tension became too much for her, Elphaba simply began undressing. What else was there to do?

Fiyero opened his mouth to ask what she was doing, but that was evident enough. He stood with his mouth hanging open for a moment, with nothing tangible to say. After all, there was no reason to ask why she was doing such a thing. Didn't she have to? Once she gave him a questioning glance, he began to do the same.

She pulled the blankets back on the bed and laid down first, the fear in her eyes masked with determination. Elphaba didn't shudder or voice a single doubt; that wasn't in her nature.

Fiyero took a deep breath and joined her on the bed, "We can wait a few minutes, or hours, you know," he said, breaking the silence and addressing the mounting anxiety that was building within the room.

"I'm tired," was all she said.

He didn't like that she'd shut herself off all day, but he had nothing to accuse her of; he didn't even really know her. Fiyero gently pressed his lips against hers, startled when she opened her mouth to him. But the surprise at that didn't stop him from enjoying it. Soon he found his hands on her body, and then his mouth. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad…

Hours later, Elphaba lay on her side, facing away from Fiyero, trying to sleep, not to think, anything. But she hadn't been able to even drift off at all. How could she? Her blood was on the sheets and his seed was alive inside of her. It wasn't that she worried of pregnancy, no, she'd studied the menstrual cycle enough to know the days when she was at risk of conceiving.

Yet, the thought of him warmed her body in a way that made her uneasy. For Oz's sake, after a little while, she had even _liked_ the lovemaking. Once it had stopped hurting, the entire thing had felt delightful, incredible. At some point, she'd found it all too much to bear and buried her face in his shoulder, but had bitten him hard. He didn't notice at the time, but when it was all over, she'd had to get up and carefully bandage his wound, for he was bleeding slightly. Never in her life had she felt more embarrassed.

He hadn't said anything to acknowledge it. Fiyero, too, had experienced a moment of immense pleasure that caused him to groan and pull her against him so hard he thought she might have bruised, but he didn't want to check at the time. But now it was so late, he thought, that maybe she was asleep and he could check without seeming odd or disturbing her. Carefully, he moved to turn on a light and examine her.

She jumped, surprised at his movement. Elphaba turned to face him and then lowered her eyes upon meeting his. Humiliation still haunted her.

He carefully touched her chin and got her to look into his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she muttered. "That just… I didn't know you were awake, that's all."

"I wasn't just referring to that," he whispered.

Elphaba rolled over and moved away from him, "Whatever."

"Did I hurt you? I wanted to ask, but I just felt so silly," he admitted.

At his admission of self-doubt and concern for her well-being, Elphaba looked at him again; she couldn't help it. "It's a perfectly normal question," she replied, "but I am not hurt. Thank you for asking."

When she simply pretended to go back to sleep again, he reached out and touched her shoulder, "Please, I want to be friends, at least."

Elphaba was in an emotional whirlwind. She was so afraid, so confused, that the normally dry-eyed Elphaba just started to tear up, "We can't be friends, don't you understand? There's no way! Fiyero, you're a good guy, but I cannot be your friend and share your bed at night. It doesn't work that way."

Alarmed, he hugged the shuddering woman against him and smoothed her hair, which she had, to his elation, taken down when she had undressed. "Don't cry, please?" He pleaded with her. Fiyero didn't know what to do, but he knew he didn't like seeing her hurt. "But how else are we supposed to come to care for each other the way we should if we aren't friends?"

"This whole thing is backwards," she said, wiping her eyes, but not pulling away from him, "the whole damned marriage. I don't know what we're supposed to do."

Fiyero finally began to understand why the custom of arranged marriage had seemed so odd to him. It was backwards, as Elphaba said. He kissed her mouth softly and caressed her cheek, having no idea what else he could do. "I know and I'm sorry it had to be this way."

"It's not your fault," she assured him, hearing the genuine guilt in his voice, and realizing how hard he was trying to make things work. Elphaba thanked Oz that he wasn't a cruel person, that he was at least kind and polite, if not a little naïve. It was an endearing quality on him, too.

"But I'm still sorry."

She shook her head roughly, "No, don't be."

"I want us to be like husband and wife should. I was hoping we could be close to one another," he said.

"I don't think I'd mind that, either, but I just don't see how…" Elphaba cut herself off. She'd never been so emotional and honest with anyone in her life and it was strange to her.

"I'd really like to try, though," he insisted.

"You're foolish," she told him.

He was hurt by this, at first, but he could tell that she sort of liked that, so he didn't argue. "May I kiss you again?"

"You didn't ask before, why ask now?"

"You needed me to, before, now you don't, but I would like to."

"You may, then."

And, to both of their amazement, they spent the rest of the night kissing and touching, though not making love, going backwards and discovering each other after, rather than before.

In the morning, they slept late and Fiyero woke first. Elphaba was asleep beside him, though she was not smiling as he'd hoped to see. Her hand was clasped in his, though and he kissed it. She didn't move.

He was confused about the weird feelings he felt for this woman. Fiyero hadn't felt this way about anyone before, and he hadn't expected to feel anything more than dutiful and respectful towards his new wife. Things were not going as expected.

They probably never would.

* * *

**AN: Okay, yet another chapter. I don't know where this came from! And notice I didn't detail things as much as I might've at certain points. I honestly didn't plan to do that... weird. This story is taking control of itself. AHHHH! LOL. I know Elphaba's acting a bit out of character, but would you act yourself in that situation? The poor thing is confused and doesn't know how to feel.**


	4. Chapter Three: A New Life

**NOTE: Okay, guys, I don't know what happened. I was reading through all my stories, and I saw how easily this one could be updated, and I just wrote. I don't know if this flows, though. It's been a long time. I don't know if it works. Please, tell me. I can't believe I actually wrote anything, but here it is. This could be the end of a very long period of writer's block, or it could be a mess. I sincerely hope it is the first and not the latter. But let me know. I know there are plenty of my fans out there still curious about my stories, and I am so glad to be able to give them something, for the first time in months, or years, I believe.**

**Chapter Three: A New Life**

It took Elphaba a moment to figure out exactly where she was when she opened her eyes, but the night before came flooding back to her in a mixture of embarrassment and awkward images. Fiyero was sitting on the bed, awake and staring at their intertwined hands on the bed between them. She immediately withdrew her hand and sat up, too. This was all so new to her, and she simply looked at Fiyero, expecting him to know what they were supposed to do next.

Luckily, his stomach made a soft noise and Fiyero suggested, "Should we dress and go downstairs for breakfast?"

Elphaba nodded gratefully and got up. She moved towards the closet, knowing the servants had unpacked her clothes and hung them there the previous day. When she opened the doors, she was shocked to find that not only were her clothes there, but several new dresses that looked to be of her size. Perhaps her parents had sent measurements? With a grimace, she decided not to think about her parents and this mess they'd thrown her into and grabbed one of her favorite black dresses.

Fiyero was dressed before Elphaba had even chosen her garment, and he silently watched the young woman move about the room and dress. He was curious about her, his wife, and wanted to learn everything. So he studied her movements carefully, but blinked and nodded in the direction of the doorway the moment she turned around.

She followed him down the stairs and into the living room, where his mother sat, sewing. The woman glanced up at them questioningly.

"Mother," Fiyero said, "I apologize that we missed breakfast, but we are hungry now."

"For Oz's sake, Fiyero, how many times do I have to tell you? Just ask the servants! I don't understand what it is that makes you so uncomfortable ordering them around," his mother waved them away, exasperated.

Fiyero sat Elphaba down in the dining room and ventured into the kitchen, where the cook and two other servants were cleaning up from breakfast. "My wife and I would like some breakfast. Whatever you have left will be fine if it's warm," he assured the cook, who had immediately reached for clean pots and pans to make another breakfast.

The cook gave him a strange look, but nodded and Fiyero left the room. Elphaba was swinging her feet nervously back and forth in her chair in the dining room, and caught herself the moment he came back in, "Oh."

"I think I forgot to say 'good morning'," Fiyero smiled sheepishly.

"Thank you. Good morning to you, too," Elphaba murmured softly, staring at her lap.

"How are you feeling this morning?"

"I'm okay, I guess," she shrugged.

The servants brought in breakfast and the couple was temporarily relieved of the uncomfortable attempts at conversation while eating. When they finished, Fiyero got up and held out a hand to Elphaba to help her out of her chair. She didn't take it.

"I don't need help standing," she met his eyes, then, and he glimpsed the girl he'd met yesterday, the girl he'd spoken to before the wedding, the headstrong intelligent young lady who he'd been enthralled by.

"Alright, then," he dropped his hand to his side, "I'll have to remember that. Don't take offense, though. I'm just trying to be polite."

"That's kind of you, but as I said, I don't need it. I'm not weak and frail, you know."

He struggled for words. Fiyero longed to keep the conversation moving. When she acted like she usually did, and voiced her opinions, it was much easier to speak with her, he found. Unfortunately, circumstances had made it very hard for her to behave like herself in the past twenty-four hours. "I didn't think you were, Elphaba."

"Good," she stood up.

"Do you want me to show you around again?" Fiyero offered, "I know my mom kind of rushed the tour of the castle yesterday."

"I have a good memory. But I recall she said something about a library she managed to pass by. Would you mind showing me that?"

"It's my favorite room in the castle," he replied.

"I have a feeling that it's going to be mine, too," Elphaba admitted. Another thing they had in common. At least this new husband was intelligent and studious. Maybe they had the same goals and aims and future discussions of their life wouldn't be too much of an argument. It certainly wasn't the best situation, but it was far from horrible enough to run away from.

Fiyero then grabbed her hand, happy to take it, and began to lead down the hall. She did not pull it away, and he was glad. He stopped at the doorway and let go of her hand, disappointed to have to do so, but noticing that she seemed to find it to be a slight discomfort. So he reached to open the library door.

Elphaba's eyes widened at the large, two story library with the books covering the walls and shelves. She could only assume the walls in this room were made of stone like the majority of the castle, for she couldn't even catch a glimpse of the walls behind the rows of books. "How is it organized?"

"Well, the first thing it's organized by is topic," Fiyero smiled inwardly at how impressed she was with the place. "Here are fantasy stories, here is literature, here is romance, which is comparatively small because my mother's the only one who reads that, and she doesn't read often, here is mystery, and the nonfiction is upstairs. Would you like to go up there?"

Elphaba nodded.

As they climbed the stairs, Fiyero commented, "You sound like you've read quite a few books, but you also look as if you've never seen so many books before."

"Not all at once," Elphaba responded, astounded.

"Well," as they neared the top of the stairs, Fiyero went back into tour guide mode, "here is the sciences section, the mathematics section, the history section, the grammatical books, there are quite a few textbooks because some of my siblings get homeschooled. Over here is the section on religions, though it's mostly about Vinkun tradition."

Elphaba found herself wandering towards this last category, as she had begun to wonder exactly how her husband had grown up. She grabbed a book from the third shelf.

"There are couches between the history and grammar sections, if you want to sit down," Fiyero told her.

"Thanks," she headed over to the couches and plopped down, quickly immersing herself in what she was reading. She didn't notice when Fiyero went downstairs and came back up with his own book and settled himself on a couch across from her, leaving her space. It was only later when she noticed, and she couldn't help but smile, grateful that she'd at least ended up stuck with someone respectful.

Fiyero sat and gazed at her from his seat, thinking that he was pretty sure he liked this new part of his life. He could certainly get used to it.


	5. Chapter Four: On the Road

NOTE: It's happening again. The itch in my fingers, the secretly writing during classes. Perhaps this all can be salvaged! And by the way, the response I got for that last chapter was incredible, guys. Wow, you have no idea how wonderful it was to have a review almost right after I posted that new chapter. It helps to know you guys are still following my stories.

**Chapter Four: On the Road**

Two weeks after the wedding, Fiyero and Elphaba were to depart for Shiz University. The discomfort between them had not yet dissipated. Daily, Fiyero worked hard at breaking down the barriers that kept them from the closeness he yearned for. It was a slow process, but he found that each time he got nearer to understanding her, he was given what he felt was some sort of reward, however small.

They had attempted lovemaking only once since their wedding night, feeling that it was something that they, as a married couple, should be doing. Though they found it somewhat physically pleasurable, the awkwardness that flooded their interactions immediately before and after was difficult to bear. So without actually speaking a word, they had both seemingly decided that such a thing should, for the time being, only take place occasionally. The two still slept in the same bed every night, knowing it wouldn't look right if they didn't. Fiyero had, however, taken to kissing her lightly on the lips each night before they fell asleep, and the fact that she did not protest nor did she suddenly become uneasy made him sure he must be getting through to her somehow.

For the journey to Shiz, they were to take a carriage and had scheduled stops nightly at hotels along the way. Elphaba found rapidly that she sorely missed the library. The silence between them was tolerable when they were both reading books, but just sitting together in a tiny carriage (the carriage that held their things followed behind) wasn't easy to endure. Sometimes, Fiyero would try to make conversation, but still, the discussion often trailed off and left them with a nervous quiet that put a strain on both of them.

When they reached the hotel the first night, Elphaba was surprised to find that the room they were to stay in was huge and accommodating. And the bed was bigger than any bed she'd ever seen. It could fit six people, comfortably, though why it would need to, she couldn't think of. However, she didn't take advantage of the spaciousness and inched close to the edge on her side of the mattress. She and Fiyero didn't sleep touching one another, whether it was to hold hands, hold each other or anything.

Fiyero bit his lip when he saw where she'd placed herself on the bed. Although there was never any physical contact between them when they slept, the bed in their room at the castle had made it so that the two were close enough that he could feel her body heat, and often the slight movement of the blanket as she breathed beneath it. He found it oddly comforting, and worried that he might not sleep quite the same without it. So he changed and climbed into the bed, and just scooted next to her, careful not to brush against her.

She flipped over and looked at him, knowing she'd sound ridiculous if she accused him of sleeping to close. Instead, she simply cocked her head and gave him a questioning glance.

"What?" Fiyero feigned innocence.

"It's just… well, there's plenty of room on that side of the bed, and you're a bit, well, close," Elphaba said.

"Oh, sorry. Do you want me to move?"

He had responded to her with a challenge. She had to actually tell him to move, not just point out that he could. Elphaba did not like this. The truth was, in her way, she found his presence near her to be somewhat soothing, too. Stumbling, she muttered, "I… I was just saying that there's a lot of space on the bed, that's all."

Fiyero felt this was another small reward for the breaking down of some barrier, possibly in regards to earlier that afternoon when he had relentlessly asked her about her childhood, and although she'd been hesitant, finally had come out with everything – he still felt incredibly angry when he thought about how she'd been treated. "I like this side of the bed, though. We could switch," he offered, hoping she'd decline.

She did. "I like this side of the bed, too," she insisted.

Neither of them realized how ridiculous it sounded, since neither of them had even touched the opposite side of the bed to know whether they preferred it, anyway.

Elphaba began to turn back over, ready to close her eyes.

Fiyero gently touched her arm and stopped her. Anxiously, he kissed her quickly on the mouth. He then let go of her arm, "Good night."

"Good night," she replied, giving him a half-smile.

The next morning, the couple ate a fast breakfast and they were back in the carriage within an hour of waking. Again, Fiyero found the lack of conversation to cause too much tension, so he began to talk, "I've been thinking about a few things."

Elphaba raised her eyebrows, pressing him to continue.

"Well, I mean, you know how we don't really know each other that well, yet, but we're married, and so we feel like we need to do married couple things?"

She nodded, unsure of where he thought he was going with the discussion.

"Maybe we shouldn't. Don't get me wrong, it's unavoidable that we live together and sleep in the same bed, but perhaps we should not… um, engage in intercourse again until we've gotten more used to each other," Fiyero's face was darkening.

Elphaba didn't want to show how relieved she was that he was saying that, for she felt the same way. It was hard to let it feel good when all she could think of was how little she knew about him, and how strange and crazy it all was. "If you think so," she replied evenly.

"Do you?" Fiyero was never going to let her get away with not telling him how she felt.

"I see your point," she nodded. Even though she agreed with him, she found that for some reason, she was reluctant to let him know so.

Realizing he couldn't push her to say much more on the subject, he sighed. After a moment, he took her hand and kissed it, "You are a good person, Elphaba."

She felt shudders down her spine but withdrew her hand. Elphaba had been taught all of her life that she could never be good, no matter how she tried. "Thank you," she murmured, looking out the window, the opposite direction of Fiyero.

Elphaba knew that she would eventually have to examine her feelings about her husband, and about herself. But at that moment, she was certain she was in no way ready to do so.


	6. Chapter Five: Obnoxious Presence

**Author's Note: This is going to be a long note, dearies. I can't believe I'm doing this. For Oz's sake, I'm 21 and writing fanfiction! By the time I had turned nineteen, more than two and a half years ago, I believe I had basically forsaken the idea of these. Part of this was because I had my own love life to deal with. I had to learn the things that Elphaba was learning in my stories. I, unfortunately, did not find my Fiyero too easily and I had a pretty hard time of it. I went through more than Elphie did in most of my stories (excepting what happened in "It All Started At Shiz").**

**Currently, I am in a long distance relationship with a man I will be moving in with in the coming months. He just bought us a house. So Fiyero-like! He's not nearly as clingy as Fiyero might be, but I still love him! I'm not exactly the perfect Elphaba, either. I've noticed I write this stuff better when I'm single, or, in this case, far enough away from my boyfriend that I really need something else to satisfy my sad need for romance.**

**I'm in college now. For the majority of the time I wrote those fanfictions, I was in high school. I am graduating this year with a degree in (you guessed it, my loving fans) CREATIVE WRITING. My specialty is not fiction (I have to steal other people's characters to write good fiction) but creative nonfiction (memoir or essays). **

**My life has been darker than the things I write. While bad things happen to my characters in my stories, it is only to move the story along and they always end up happy. But unfortunately, I am not Elphaba. I am not Glinda (although I've been told I should play her one day). I gave up on my dream of musical theatre. I was cheated on and used by my first love. I struggle with mental disease. You don't see that in my writing. I could NEVER let Elphaba or Fiyero actually cheat on one another, not in my stories. They are my ideal couple. Those of you who have read everything know that things have happened where Elphaba and Fiyero may have been separated or almost hurt one another, but I'd have never let them… it's sad to see that even the characters in my stories stop themselves when the boy I loved didn't. And though both Elphaba and Fiyero are not exactly normal, I don't exactly give them a mental disease. Elphaba is much stronger and independent than I am, and I've noticed that sometimes in my stories I give her or Fiyero some of the codependency issues I struggle with.**

**Oh, dears, enough with this, right, loves? I was reading through my old stories, and there are some, I'm sorry to say, that I have to simply give up on. I am not the innocent sweet (and very sexually curious) girl I was when I wrote those. Some can be salvaged. Some cannot. But reading your reviews on my old stories made me realize how much you guys appreciated me, how much I felt special here. I can't promise I'll even continue after this chapter – I have to write my thesis this semester, and 50 pages of depressing parts of my life can take a lot out of me and after that I will again be busy with my own love life, and getting married (I hope) and having children and such and teaching English (sweet Oz, wouldn't it be creepy if I ended up having a student for a fan?) – but I want you to know that I think of you. And this is for you.**

Chapter Five: Obnoxious Presence (aka Galinda)

Fiyero's parents had arranged for Elphaba and Fiyero to live in an apartment on the south edge of the campus. It was by no means small – in fact, Elphaba thought it may have been larger than the home she had only recently left. They had a bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, extra bedrooms (Elphaba could not comprehend what these were for) and two bathrooms. Elphaba unpacked much faster than Fiyero for she always organized her things the same way every place she went, and it was not as if she had much to organize, anyway. She asked Fiyero politely if he wouldn't mind if she left and explored the campus. She needed to find the bookstore and buy her books. Fiyero was focused on trying to make the place more homey (something Elphaba also could not comprehend – she didn't realize he was doing it for her) and smiled.

"You don't have to ask permission."

"I wasn't asking your permission, I was merely being kind."

"Well, I'm perfectly fine with you going, if that matters at all."

Elphaba nodded and grabbed her small bag, hoping she'd have plenty of books to fill it with. Outside, she almost walked straight into a short blonde girl with bouncing curls. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

The blonde girl stared for a moment, temporarily stunned by the creature that had just walked into her and thinking, _This girl needs a makeover._

Elphaba sighed, having almost forgotten that people might not take to her looks. "Look, I don't appreciate you staring. I'm sure it must be shocking, but really, do you have manners? Didn't your mother ever tell you not to stare?"

The blonde girl blinked. "Oh, I'm so horribly sorry! It's just… well… I mean… Oh, I don't know!"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "This is an intelligent conversation we're having here."

"_Excuse me_," the blonde girl chided, "I can't just be expected to talk intelligently when you basically ran me over."

"I said I was sorry for that. I'm just in a hurry. I'd really like to get to the bookstore." Elpahba looked around and realized that she had no idea what direction she should be going in order to find it.

The blonde seemed to understand the girl was lost. "How long have you been here?"

"We just got here."

"We?"

Oh, this was going to be a fun explanation, wasn't it? "My husband and I."

"Husband?" The blonde was shocked. "You're already married? Why are you here, then? I mean…"

"It's a very long story, uh… what's your name?"

"Galinda."

"Galinda. I'm Elphaba. It's kind of none of your business."

"Oh!" Galinda put a hand to her mouth. "I didn't think."

"Could you just please tell me where the bookstore is?"

"Yes. It's over there," Galinda pointed towards north campus. "It's a bit of a walk. I was just heading there, actually. I live right off of campus in a nice little home my parents rented for my friends and I!"

"Well isn't that special," Elphaba muttered. "I suppose you're going to want to join me, then?"

"Why not?" The blonde girl smiled, trying to see past the green girl's skin.

"Lovely." Elphaba didn't understand how this girl could be so ignorant to her sarcasm.

"So, I didn't mean to prod," said the Galinda as the two began to walk, "I was just ever so curious when you said you were married. I don't know many married girls. I've only been here two days, but I thought I'd met quite a few people and none of them were married."

She wasn't going to let this go, was she? Elphaba resigned herself to the fact that she might have to actually tell this girl about her life. "It was arranged."

"Well that's terribly old fashioned."

"I agree with that."

"Then why?"

"Because it's what my parents wanted. And because I couldn't have gone to Shiz if I didn't."

"You got married just to come here?"

"You could say that. I mean, my husband is a nice man, but I didn't even know him."

"You didn't know him?"

"Not at all."

"Then how did you…? I mean, it must've been strange when you met."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Does he like you?"

"He respects me and that's enough."

"He doesn't like you?"

"I don't know."

"You don't _know_?"

"Sweet Oz, you are really curious. As I said, it's kind of my own business, okay?"

"Sorry," Galinda muttered.

They had arrived in the bookstore and Elphaba was eager to be rid of this prodding and obnoxious presence. "Well, I had better go look for my books," Elphaba waved her list obviously.

"Oh, yes, me too! I will see you around."

And they did, about two seconds later. It seemed that many of the books Elphaba needed, this Galinda person did, too. Now she was beginning to get aggravated. Would all of her classmates be like this clueless bubbly girl who was practically skipping about the bookstore? She was suddenly wondering why she'd been so excited to get to Shiz in the first place.


	7. Chapter Six: New Books

**Author's Note: Okay, wow, I'm going to keep going with this, aren't I? Oh, dear, I do have a thesis due in 2 and a half months and I'm writing this stuff? There's something severely wrong with me - I've been snowed in for far too long!**

**Also, I only got one review but I noticed that instantly a lot of people favorited my story, which I would qualify as a type of good review! Thank you. I realize that a lot of the people who probably started with me when I wrote this are long gone from here, and I'm only sorry that I didn't continue sooner.**

**I noticed that there is, out there, a story quite like this that was written much later by someone who reviewed this story and seemed to like it. Now, I can't really say much about that, considering that this is fanfiction, so we're all already plagiarizing! And I do understand that after it took me almost three years to update, someone would want to come up with their own ideas of what happened. But I'm here now. I can't promise to finish, but I can promise to try.**

**I also encourage reviews as well as messages to me about any questions you might have. If I am unclear or dialogue sounds forced or something doesn't quite sit well with you, I'd also like to know. I am very much used to criticism, being that I'm going to school in writing and that requires a bit of a thick skin about writing, something that does take a while to develop.**

**And to all of you writers who think you might do more than fanfiction some day, keep writing! Practice and show your work to others. Take criticism well. Take classes. Even the classes I didn't like I learned something from. **

**I've been in a British literature class this semester and we're reading Austen. I worry I might be taking on a bit of that voice…**

Chapter Six: New Books

Elphaba returned from the bookstore and Fiyero could tell she wasn't in quite the same mood that she'd been in when she left, but he decided he'd let her be. She did seem excited to look over her new books and began flipping through the pages as soon as she put them down on the desk in their bedroom.

"Where was the bookstore?" Fiyero asked kindly. "I need to get my books."

Suddenly Elphaba realized how rude she had been in not asking him to go with or asking if he wanted her to pick anything up, but she wasn't going to acknowledge that. "Oh! Um, it's over north of here. Some girl helped me find it."

"That's nice. I'm glad you've been talking to someone."

"More like talking at her. I swear, this girl… everything I said went straight over her head."

Fiyero had to laugh at the expression on Elphaba's face. "Well, then."

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just that I have a feeling you're going to meet a few of those types of people."

"But this is _college_." Elphaba shook her head.

"Yes but what matters here is who can pay to get here, not intelligence."

The idea hadn't occurred to Elphaba and she groaned at the thought. "Damn. I didn't really think about that."

Smart as Elphaba was, Fiyero realized she had a slightly skewed world view. She was stubborn and she didn't like people who didn't meet her standards. He only hoped he could meet them. "Well, I'm sure there are some smart kids here."

"You seem to be intelligent," Elphaba admitted.

"Thank you," Fiyero tried not to laugh. He wasn't quite sure that was a compliment, or even meant to be one, but he'd let it go.

Elphaba was flipping through her life sciences book and several pages fell out. "Damnit."

Fiyero looked over and examined her books. "Are those what they're selling at the bookstore?"

"Those are what I could afford at the bookstore," Elphaba responded.

He was about to offer to buy her new ones when he went to the bookstore. There was no possible way that she could even read some of those, but he also realized that she might not like the help. Still, she needed them. While she got up and ran across the room to grab the pages that had fallen, he grabbed her book list and shoved it in his pocket. "Well, I'm going to go to the bookstore now. Do you need anything?" He was hoping he wouldn't have to surprise her and that she'd ask for his help. He didn't think she'd really take well to this kind of surprise.

"Wasn't I just there?" She rolled her eyes.

"I know, but sometimes we forget things or realize that what we bought isn't quite… right."

"I'm fine." She didn't even see that he was trying to help.

"Okay. Well, I'll be back in a while."

"Take your time. I'm just going to read. You don't have to spend every minute with me. No offense, but I'd rather you not."

Fiyero tried to take no offense but wasn't sure how he felt about that remark. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she said carefully, "it's just that I'm a bit…"

"Independent?" He supplied.

"Yes. I tend to like to do things on my own."

"I understand." Although he wasn't quite sure he did understand, he resolved to try. If she needed her space, he'd get out of her hair. "Bye!"

Alone in the apartment, Elphaba put the book down. If she wanted to read, she could escape to some library or study room or something, she resolved. She was unaccustomed to this new place and wished to have a look around.

She didn't expect anything to be in her desk, but she was surprised to find several empty notebooks. Elphaba had brought her own half-used notebooks from school back in Nest Hardings because she knew she probably couldn't afford to waste them. She wondered where they had come from. Perhaps Fiyero's parents had sent things out for them?

Curious, she moved to Fiyero's desk. On it, there was a small painting of his parents and several of his siblings. While Elphaba couldn't connect that well to his great affection for his family, she found it nice, almost wishing she could feel more attached to hers. She loved Nessa, of course. Nessa had never done anything wrong to her – it wasn't as if the poor thing could help that she was the favorite. But she had feelings of irritation and indifference towards her father. Nanny was special to her, as well, but she wouldn't say that she missed her too much. She was tired of being lectured about reading too much.

Elphaba opened one of the desk drawers and found the same types of notebooks. Her suspicion that Fiyero's parents had sent them out seemed accurate enough, given that they both had been given the same notebooks in the same drawer of their separate desks. While Elphaba was grateful for the notebooks, she was uneasy about using them. She was, in fact, independent and she tended not to take the charity of others.

She moved on to the closet, where she had hung her clothes only hours earlier. Fiyero's clothes now hung in a corner or lay folded on a shelf on the opposite side. They seemed like they were nice clothes, and they were mostly new. None of his clothes were used and torn the way Elphaba's were, but they weren't fancy or anything. She wondered if he had chosen them himself or if his parents had.

She moved on to the dining room, which was nothing special. In the living room, however, there were couches and an empty bookshelf. Elphaba was carrying her books out here when Fiyero entered the apartment with several bags.

"How many classes are you taking?"

"Well, not that many, but you…"

She realized what he had done. "No."

"What?"

"I'm not taking those books. Return them."

"How are you even supposed to read those?" Fiyero gestured to the books she was carrying. A cover was hanging off of one of them and there were literally ripped pages trailing behind her.

"I don't need your charity."

He took a deep breath. "We're married. You realize that my money is your money, too."

"What did I do to earn it? I didn't work."

"Neither did I, you know."

The books did look beautiful. Elphaba had rarely been given new books and had usually had to read older ones, but the few she had been given had been especially wonderful. She had loved turning the pages. "Fiyero, you just can't do that."

"It's what you need. It's not like I went out and bought you a thousand diamond rings or something. You need this stuff. You can barely use those books."

She sighed. "Fine. I'll take them. But I really don't want them."

"We should return the ones you bought. You can keep the money you had, spend them on other books or something."

"No. I'll return them, but I'm not doing anything with the money."

Fiyero realized that she wouldn't budge on this and he let it go. "Look, I'm sorry if I offended you but I really just felt like it would be a nice thing to do."

She half smiled at him. "It was nice. I just don't think it's right."

Fiyero really could not understand this woman.


	8. Chapter Seven: First Dates

**Author's Note: I want to start a new fic, see what I can do with a blank page and without sixteen to eighteen-year-old me's help, but I don't really have a fresh idea to start with. Anyone? I've kind of had one or two in my head but they don't seem good enough. I am open to ideas if you would message me! I may not use them, not because they aren't good but because I might not feel right writing them. But who knows? I always use help and I've gotten some very good ideas before.**

**And I swear, there was something I meant to put in the last chapter… or maybe that was "Truth or Dare"? You know, I am way too forgetful. Oh, wait… maybe it was to bring Boq in? No, that's not it. Dang it. But that does give me an idea. But wait… now I remember. **

**Also, again, please review. They mean a lot to me. And I was wondering how you liked my representation of Glinda back in chapter five (I guess technically since this website doesn't "do" prologues, it was chapter six).**

Chapter Seven: First Dates

Classes were to start the day after the next and Elphaba seemed content to read through her books until then. At first she'd been strange about reading them – she would only touch them with the tip of her finger and she would turn the pages ever so carefully, making sure not to bend the spine. Fiyero realized it was because she didn't quite feel like they were _her_ books.

She had turned another page in her obsessively cautious way when Fiyero came up to her at the couch and said, "I've been thinking."

"I would hope you've been thinking. It'd be disappointing if you didn't."

He laughed. "That's not what I meant."

"Okay, then, if I have to ask, what have you been thinking?"

"You know how you said this whole marriage thing was backwards?"

"Yes."

"Well, I thought we could go on a date."

"Why?"

"Because that's what people out here seem to do before they get married. And maybe it would be good for us to go out like we would've if we'd not been forced to marry."

"I wouldn't be going out with you at all."

Fiyero paused, hurt. "Well…"

"Oh, no! I meant… I meant I wouldn't be going out with anyone. I didn't mean you. I just… I wasn't the dating type and I don't think that even if I were here and not married that I'd be dating." Elphaba, though she didn't care so much about his feelings, realized that she had been rude. She did like him, but she really couldn't see herself ever _dating_.

Fiyero took a seat beside her on the couch, trying to think of how to respond. "I'm sorry?"

Elphaba laughed uncomfortably. "I really didn't mean to say… oh, damn." Feeling guilty she said, "But it is a good idea. It makes a lot of sense and since we are in this situation, we should. You're right."

"Um, what exactly does one do on a date, anyway?"

Elphaba smiled, almost enchanted by this cluelessness. "I… you know, I'm not quite sure myself. I've never been on one."

"But you have to have heard of them, right? They don't really date a lot where I come from, but I assume you've read plenty about them."

"Well, that's not exactly my type of reading, but yes, they have come up. I guess we eat somewhere or do something else that we both find fun."

"Like reading? Because that doesn't sound right."

Elphaba laughed more comfortably this time. "No, something we can do together. Like see a play or eat and talk. That way we're sharing the same experience, not sitting in the same room but sharing different ones."

Fiyero nodded. "Okay. I get it. I saw this little café when I was out and it seemed like a lot of students liked to eat there. Why don't we have dinner there and then walk around and see what there is to, um, experience?"

Elphaba was still smiling at him, pleased with how honest he was and able to see that he was trying very hard to make her happy. "Yes. That sounds nice." She wasn't exactly sure it did sound nice, but she wanted to make up for what she had said.

Fiyero thought that he should dress at least somewhat nicely, but then he wondered if Elphaba would like that. She did not seem to like the unnecessary airs that came with having to be formal. And this was college – he'd seen students walking about and none of them had been dressed to the nines. He decided that he'd wear something clean and respectable, but nothing too fancy.

Elphaba sat for a moment after he left the room and suddenly cursed to herself. _Shit!_ A date would mean actually having to prepare for a date! She'd actually have to attempt to look as though she cared about her appearance. And she'd have to let him pay (this confused her, because she was basically living off his money – she hated to think that the food on her plates had been provided by his family's wealth, but she knew it did – so why did letting him pay for a date seem wrong?). Was she going to be expected to sleep with him after the date? If they were dating as if not married, it made sense that she shouldn't but she didn't quite get this whole concept. Then again, neither did he.

Around five thirty, Elphaba put down her book and exited the living room and entered the bedroom to get ready. It wouldn't take her long, but perhaps she should make it look as if she was actually trying. Fifteen minutes later, Fiyero entered the room to dress himself, which was a little awkward. Dressing together for a date was hardly normal! But Fiyero seemed to realize this whisked his clothes into another room and changed there.

She had to wear black. It was dark and the couple would be less likely to be stared at if she blended into the scenery better. How terrible would it be to go on a date and just get stared at the entire time? Elphaba didn't think Fiyero realized exactly how abnormal she was, and if he did, he probably didn't realize how people reacted to the strangeness of her color. It might be an unpleasant shock for him.

While she had to wear black, she knew she had to also try and look different from the every day. So she looked through the clothes that had been made for her by Fiyero's family for the first time. She'd only paid enough attention to them to pack them before they left for Shiz, afraid that if she didn't take them, his family would be offended. In here, she found a dress that was soft and velvety with a high, respectful neckline. It had long sleeves, which she liked – the less skin shown, the better.

She pulled on the dress, straightened it and then wondered if she should do something about her hair. Elphaba grabbed a brush from her beside drawer, took her hair out of the bun it had been in all day and brushed it out. Maybe she could use her hair to hide her face – even less of that awful green color to be shown.

She left the room and Fiyero opened his mouth, presumably to say something nice. "You don't have to," she said quickly.

"What?"

"I..." Assuming that he'd compliment her was a bit conceited. She didn't think it for that reason (she thought it because it was simply his type of thing to do) but she realized that it wouldn't sound quite right if she stopped him before he even said it. "Nothing."

"Well you look lovely, Elphaba."

She bit her lip and looked down. "Um, yeah… no."

"What on earth?"

"I just… you don't have to say that just because you're taking me out."

Fiyero stood quietly, watching her. She did look lovely to him, especially with her hair down and about her shoulders. But he wanted this to be easy for her, so he reworded, "Your dress is nice."

She nodded. It was not a compliment directly about her and therefore was one she could accept, however uneasily. Fiyero held out his hand and looked towards the door when a loud rap of thunder came from outside. "That's a problem."

Fiyero didn't understand. She had never exactly explained to him why she bathed only in oils.

"I can't go outside now."

"Why?"

She walked over to the window to make sure, but there was no denying it. It had started to rain.

**AN: Would Elphaba really do this much just to make him feel better? I'm really not sure. But I think she would appreciate that he was trying. Let me know if you think differently. I love reviews! And any ideas for a new fic would be lovely! I love you all!**


	9. Chapter Eight: No Pretending

**Author's Note: Hey guys. I forgot to tell you all that during the week there will probably be no updates. I'm going to have trouble updating in general because of school and stuff going on around the house, but during the week it's going to be impossible. Here's to the weekend!**

Chapter Eight: No Pretending

"So, wait, you're saying you're _allergic to water_?" Fiyero repeated.

"Did you not notice the fact that I bathe in oils?" Elphaba snapped, exasperated.

"I thought that was just some Munchkinland ritual."

It was a valid assumption, though Elphaba still rolled her eyes. "Nope."

"How? I mean, can you drink things? I guess you can. You'd be dead if you didn't and I've seen you numerous times but…"

"I can drink water, although I have to be extremely careful not to spill. I usually drink something else, like milk or juice. It hurts less if it drips because it's not pure water."

Fiyero blinked slowly, comprehending this strange announcement. "I didn't even know it was possible to be allergic to water."

"I don't know that anyone else is. Maybe it's my skin," Elphaba shrugged.

Fiyero touched the back of her hand, suddenly curious to see if there was any sort of textural difference he could feel, but she pulled away. "Sorry."

"Warn me next time," she muttered.

Fiyero placed his hands in his lap. "What do you do when you have to go somewhere and it rains? I mean, what about classes?"

"I cover myself as best I can. But it's embarrassing and I don't like going out like that. So I avoid it as much as possible."

"I guess we'll just have dinner here. It's peaceful and quiet, anyway."

"We have dinner here, anyway."

"I know, but we could pretend."

"We were already pretending we hadn't been forced to get married; now we're pretending we're at a restaurant."

"Why not?"

"I guess."

Fiyero went and threw some noodles onto the stove for pasta. Elphaba went and grabbed a book, sitting near the window and watching the rain. She glared at it defiantly, almost daring it to try and make its way through the glass and get her.

After half an hour of almost complete silence, the pasta was ready and Fiyero set it on their small table, pulling a chair out for Elphaba. She looked at it for a moment before sitting down, and then shrugged. He didn't know what that meant, but he figured he should just let it go.

"So, how are you?"

"Gee, Fiyero, I haven't been in the same apartment as you all day or anything, so I'm sure you wouldn't already know the answer."

"Even if you are, Elphaba, that doesn't mean I know how you're feeling."

She acknowledged his point, "True. I'm fine, I guess. What's it to you?"

"I'd like to know. I'm fine, too, by the way."

Elphaba laughed. "Sorry. How's life?"

"Well, it's good. I've got this nice apartment…"

"This is not working," Elphaba interrupted. "I can't just pretend we're not married, Fiyero. This is pointless."

"You're not trying."

"Maybe it would've been easier if we weren't sitting in the apartment, but I'm just not doing this."

Fiyero sighed, "Okay."

Elphaba sat back and twirled her fork on her plate, eating quietly.

"What are your classes first day?"

"Life sciences, history of Oz, Religion."

"I have life sciences as well."

"So does that girl I met on my way to the bookstore."

"That's great! You'll have someone else to talk to."

Elphaba shook her head, "I don't want to talk to her. I'd rather just learn."

Fiyero stared at her for a moment and then said, "Okay."

"What?"

"I just don't understand why you don't want to make friends."

"You said yourself that a lot of the people here are just going to be rich kids who got in because of money."

Fiyero argued, "I didn't say that they wouldn't be good people."

"I don't know many good people," Elphaba shot back, "so I doubt there are many."

"Maybe that's because you don't know enough people. You don't seem to want to talk to anyone."

"I like it that way."

Fiyero looked down at his food, realizing the conversation was pointless. She was too stubborn. He changed the subject. "What class are you looking forward to the most?"

"All of them."

"You have to have a favorite subject."

"I'll discover it when I've actually taken the classes."

"What did you like in school before you came here?"

"Everything. I had the same teacher for everything. Nothing was different. We read books about things, about science, about history, literature, religion. We didn't do anything else."

"I think it'll be different here."

"That would be interesting."

"I hope you'll enjoy it."

"I'll try." Elphaba got up to put the dishes in the sink. "You realize I can't… I can't clean up after dinner." She gestured towards the faucet.

He hadn't realized this. On the road they hadn't had to clean and at the palace there had been servants. She'd eaten very little in the past days and so he hadn't noticed. "It's okay. I'll do it."

"Thank you," she lowered her head. She hated it when she couldn't do something so simple, a task she should do for herself.

He saw this. "It's okay. I'm not mad or anything."

"I know."

"Okay… then…"

"I just feel like it's a simple task. I'm more than capable if it weren't for that damn allergy."

"If you really want to help, why don't we get you some gloves?" Fiyero offered. He didn't want to force her to clean, but since it seemed to bother her that she couldn't, he decided he'd try to find a way to help her.  
"That's an idea," Elphaba nodded, "I'd like that."

"But you'll have to be careful because if the faucet runs too strong it can splash back at you."

"I can take care of myself," she tried not to be rude. Elphaba knew he was only trying to help her, but she hated people trying to take care of things she could handle well enough on her own.

"I know."

"I'm going to get out of this dress." Elphaba went back to the bedroom.

Fiyero gaped after her. He was trying so hard to do things right and he just couldn't quite seem to get a handle on it. He left the dishes to dry and walked into the room just as she had cupped oil in her palms to clean. "Oh! Sorry."

She jumped and looked over her shoulder as he lowered his eyes. "It's your room, too… I should've locked the door…"

He was staring and did not respond.  
She glared at him. "I'll make _sure_ to lock the door next time," and stomped into the bathroom.

And yet again, Fiyero sighed, he really just couldn't get right.


	10. Chapter Nine: Socially Awkward

**AN: Hey guys! Okay, I had the weirdest dream last night. I was watching Wicked porn. I mean, like, Fiyeraba porn. Actually, I wasn't watching it, I was trying to watch it but my parents kept bothering me. I don't even think there IS such a thing as Wicked porn! Anyway, I figured it just meant I'd better get moving on this. Maybe I'll be nice and give you all another chapter by the end of the weekend because I'm feeling into this now. I feel stuck on "Truth or Dare" though so you might have to wait another week. We'll see.**

Chapter Nine: Socially Awkward

It was the day Elphaba had been waiting anxiously for; classes were beginning. She gathered her books quickly while Fiyero pandered around the room slowly. "You're not a morning person, are you?" Elphaba was trying hard to be nicer to him. He was only trying to be kind to her and it wasn't his fault they were in this situation. Besides, she'd agreed to this, too.

"I'll get used to it," he said amicably. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yes."

She was waiting for him, he realized. He had expected her to just walk on her own if she finished getting ready first. "I'm almost ready."

"We have thirty minutes. It can't be more than ten from here."

"But you want to get there early."

Elphaba nodded, "I do."

"Then I'll hurry up." Fiyero ran into the bedroom to grab the last of his things.

Elphaba leaned against the doorway, watching him walk around the room picking papers up off the floor. When he looked up at her she looked away.

He got up, holding his book bag. "Can I carry anything for you?"

Elphaba bit her tongue, trying not to be snide. "No, but thank you. I can carry everything myself."

Fiyero realized his mistake and appreciated that she hadn't snapped at him. "Okay, that's fine. I guess we should go, then."

Elphaba nodded and walked out the door when he held it open for her. "Thanks…"

He smiled politely at her. "This class looks interesting. I've heard our professor is a Goat."

"Really?" Elphaba's eyes widened. "I've only known a few Animals, never any who were involved in academia."

"His name is Dr. Dillamond."

Right then, a blonde girl tapped Elphaba on the shoulder. "It was so easy to spot you, Elphaba!"

Elphaba glared at Galinda. "Too bad."

Fiyero stifled a laugh.  
Galinda looked over at Fiyero. "Is this… _your husband_?" She lowered her voice.

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Yes. Fiyero, this is Galinda."

"Nice to meet you!" Galinda bounced along happily.

"You must be the girl Elphaba met in the bookstore," Fiyero observed.

"She talked about me?"

Fiyero smiled knowingly at Elphaba, "Yes, she did. You made an impression."

Elphaba had to smile back. At least he had a sense of humor. "What class are you going to, Galinda?"

"Life sciences."

Elphaba sighed, "We are, too."

"Oh, that's so cute! You're taking the same class."

Even Fiyero rolled his eyes at this. "It was really just a coincidence. We didn't sign up together."

"Why not?" Galinda was literally skipping along next to them.

"Why would we?" Elphaba asked, completely genuine.

"Because you want to be together!"

"We live together. I don't see why we need to be together all the time."

Galinda was confused. "But you're newlyweds."

"We're not typical newlyweds, though. I told you." Elphaba shrugged.

"I guess. So, what's your major?" Galinda turned to Fiyero.

"Since I'm to be running a kingdom, my focus is probably going to be in economics and politics."

"Running a kingdom?"

Fiyero looked at Elphaba, half apologizing, half asking why Elphaba hadn't told her. "Yeah, from the Vinkus."

"I left that part out," Elphaba muttered.

"You're a prince? Oh, that's so romantic! Why didn't you tell me, Elphaba?" Galinda's eyes were wide.

"I forgot."

"You _forgot?_"

"Pretty much."

"Oh, goodness!"

Elphaba was almost glad when another distraction arrived a few yards in front of the building. A male voice called out, "Elphaba!"

She turned around as a short young man came running towards her. "Excuse me?"

"You have to be. Elphie, don't you remember? Boq! We used to play back in Munchkinland."

"Elphie?" Galinda repeated. "Oh, I like that!"

Elphaba looked like she was about to break down and run back to the apartment, so Fiyero intervened. "Hey, Galinda, why don't you go save us seats in the lecture hall while Elphaba and I catch up with Boq?"

Elphaba looked at him gratefully. "Yes, that would be great, Galinda."

"Okay!" The blonde danced off.

"Who was _that_?" Boq asked, staring in the direction Galinda had gone.

"Someone I met at the bookstore," Elphaba said quickly. "Boq, what are you doing here?"

"Going to school, of course! I should've thought you'd be here. You were always so smart. I just wasn't sure your parents would let you… I mean, I didn't think you guys had a lot of money…" Boq blushed.

"We didn't. We had help. It's a long story."

Boq finally seemed to notice Fiyero. "Oh, hi! Who are you? I'm so sorry I didn't introduce myself."

"This is Fiyero," Elphaba said slowly, "my…"

"Husband," Fiyero finished.

"Husband?" Boq looked shocked.

"Yes. Our parents decided we should marry."

"Oh, I see."

"He's the reason I'm here. His parents were kind enough to send me to school as well."

"Well, good to meet you, Fiyero," Boq held out a hand.

Fiyero shook it. He made note to talk to this young man later – he might have some insights into Elphaba that Fiyero was struggling with. "Good to meet you, too."

"We should get inside," Elphaba hurried.

"Yes, we should. Can I sit next to that girl?"

"Galinda? Oh, please do!" Elphaba was relieved she would not be forced to talk with the blonde girl immediately.

When they got inside, Boq settled in next to Galinda, and Fiyero sat beside him. Elphaba sat down on the edge of the row. Several students turned to stare at both she and Fiyero. She simply glared back.

Fiyero, however, was not used to the stares of others. "Elphaba, we're being stared at," he murmured.

"Get used to it," she said softly.

He realized she'd always been different and yet he was only different outside of his home. He was about to say something when the professor strode into the classroom.

"Good morning, class. I am Dr. Dillamond. I hope you are all excited to learn more about the life sciences. Let me pass out some papers and take roll."

Fiyero scribbled on a piece of paper and handed it to Elphaba. It said, "I see why Galinda bothered you so much. She is a little flaky."

Elphaba didn't much like the idea of passing notes, but she opened the note anyway. She grinned at him and nodded.

Dr. Dillamond got to Fiyero and Elphaba's name on the roll call and realized they had the same last name. He looked up at them, trying to determine if they were related. "Elphaba and Fiyero Tiggular?"

Elphaba cringed. She had yet to be called by his last name and it felt as though someone was wrenching away her identity. She raised her hand along with Fiyero.

Dr. Dillamond did not flinch or stare, he merely went back to his attendance sheet. The first person not to stare at Elphaba upon first seeing her. She respected him immediately.

The first day was all business and very little learning and soon class was over. Fiyero was to head to an economics class and Elphaba was to go to a literature class. After waving goodbye to Boq (who was still staring at Galinda) and Galinda, they walked a few steps. "Um," Elphaba was looking at her feet, "I guess I'll see you later." She kissed his cheek quickly and ran away.

Fiyero smiled to himself. Maybe he was getting somewhere with her.


	11. Chapter Ten: Warming Up

**AN: A review less than fifteen minutes after I posted the last chapter? Wow! I think that's a record. I know I've gotten some reviews pretty fast before, but that was speedy! That was awesome! I love reviews. And I'm glad that my last chapter seemed to go over well.**

Chapter Ten: Warming Up

Fiyero walked into the apartment only a few minutes after Elphaba had gotten home, however it looked as if she'd been sitting there reading for hours from how immersed she was in her life sciences book. She barely looked up when he walked in.

"Hey, Elphaba," he put his book bag down. "How was your second class?"

"Not nearly as mortifying as the first class. I didn't know anyone, and that was a relief." She paused. "Thanks for helping me this morning with Galinda and Boq."

He sat down beside her. "No problem. You looked a little stressed."

"I'm just not very good with people sometimes. I had no idea how to handle Galinda. And Boq… that was such a surprise."

"I doubt you'll have to worry about him bothering you too much."

"Why?"

"He seemed pretty smitten with Galinda."

"I didn't notice."

"Really?"

"How can you tell?"

"He was staring at her the entire class."

"She must be pretty."

"She is."

Elphaba looked up at him more, then. "You think so?"

Fiyero saw that there was a hint of vulnerability in her eyes. "Conventionally, she is. For normal people, people who don't look past that or don't appreciate people's differences."

"True. The whole blonde, blue-eyed thing, I guess. I saw paintings of women like that all over Munchkinland."

"Must've been hard."

"What?"

"Having how normal other people are being shoved in your face all the time. I never realized how different we are until I got here."

She finally put her book down all of the way. "Fiyero, we're not just different in the way we look."

"You mean that we're married?"

"Yes. And the fact that we were arranged to be married. People who go to college are usually the liberal, progressive ones. Most people here probably think that arranged marriages are old and unnecessary."

"Do you agree?"

Elphaba lowered her eyes. "Yes."

"Oh," Fiyero said, dejectedly.

"Don't you see how it's a little backwards?" Elphaba tried to be gentle. She hadn't meant to hurt him, merely to state her opinion on arranged marriage.

"That's true. It does seem strange, living with you when we are so distant." Fiyero took her hand bravely, "I'd like us to be closer."

Elphaba took a deep breath and tried to smile. "I know. It would be easier."

"Not just easier. I want to get to know you. Even if we weren't married, I'd want to."

Elphaba seemed shocked. "Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Why?"

Fiyero laughed lightly and dropped Elphaba's hand, noting that she was struggling not to draw it back. "Because your opinions are interesting, and you're intelligent. It's nice to have someone to talk to who won't agree with everything I say. You don't hold back, and while it sometimes doesn't come off well, it is interesting."

Elphaba flushed. "Oh. Well, um, thank you. I think that you're a nice person and I like talking with you, too."

Fiyero knew that was the best compliment he would get from her, and he beamed for a moment. "I'm glad to hear it." After a moment, he said, "How about we try that date again? The sky looks very clear."

"Isn't it a bit early?" But Elphaba wasn't objecting.

"You haven't had lunch, yet, have you?"

"No…"

"And this way we won't be out late when there are classes tomorrow."

"True," she smiled, "I think that's a good idea."

Fiyero grabbed her hand. "Let's go, then!"

Elphaba wondered if perhaps she should change clothes, but Fiyero seemed insistent on leaving at that very moment. "Okay."

It was a short walk to the café, and the skies were just as clear as Fiyero had said. There were students wandering about the campus, many of whom stopped and stared at the couple, but Fiyero did his best to ignore it. Elphaba admired his nonchalance about the attention they were drawing from their peers because of their appearances. When they arrived, Fiyero smiled at her.

"Elphie!"

Elphaba's face fell. For a moment, she'd been almost cheerful. "Oh, no… Galinda."

"Elphie!" It was Boq this time, waving at her frantically.

Fiyero looked over to where the two were sitting amongst a group of people. He whispered to her, "We don't have to sit with them if you don't want to. I can tell them we wanted to spend time alone."

Elphaba looked at him gratefully, but shook her head. "Maybe I should try to be friendly."

Fiyero was surprised, but did not want to show her. "If that's what you want," he said kindly.

Just then, Elphaba felt eyes on her. One of the young men sitting near Boq was grinning at her and pointing, laughing. "Never mind. Let's just sit together."

Fiyero left Elphaba standing alone for a moment and walked over to the table where the group of students were sitting. She heard his voice but couldn't quite make out what he was saying. She noted that the boy who had been laughing at her was giving a very condescending look to Fiyero, as well. She would ask Boq who this person was and make sure to avoid him. He was probably one of those kids Fiyero had said only came here because his parents had money.

Fiyero came back and they were seated. Elphaba was relieved that they were basically out of sight of the other group. "Thanks. What'd you say?"

"I said that we wanted some alone time and that we'd get together with them another time. They introduced me to everyone quickly and let me go."

"Someone was staring at you. And me."

"His name is Avaric. He seems kind of rude. I heard him say something…"

"What'd he say?"

"He muttered something about my skin being the color of shit."

Elphaba's eyes flashed with anger. "That ass! How dare he?"

"It's okay," Fiyero said softly. "We won't talk to him. But I'm surprised you didn't notice the two guys sitting with him."

"Why?"

"They were wearing lipstick. I believe their names were Crope and Tibbet."

Elphaba smiled. "They sound interesting. Too bad they seem to hang with that asshole."

"Boq was there, too. So was Galinda," Fiyero observed.

"Yeah. Well, Galinda probably doesn't even realize he's an ass. And Boq… well, he followed Galinda, obviously."

Fiyero nodded and they placed their orders. When the waiter had left he said, "I'd like to spend some more time with Boq."

"Why?"

"He seems like a nice guy. He didn't stare at me as much as most of the other people I've met. Plus, he was your friend, so he has to be pretty decent."

"I'm glad you have faith in my choice of companions."

"I know you wouldn't waste your time if someone didn't have good qualities and wasn't smart."

"That's true." Elphaba paused and said, quietly, "That's why I like to spend time with you. You don't waste my time… much," she stared at her food as it was put in front of her.

"Thank you," Fiyero said, half to the waiter and half to Elphaba.

"Maybe I'm rude sometimes, but I am grateful that you have been understanding. I know that not everyone would be."

"Well, you don't waste my time, either, so I want to be nice to you."

Elphaba blushed for the second time that afternoon.

When they got home, Fiyero went to get ready for bed. Elphaba surprised him by coming in the room while he was getting dressed for bed and doing the same. He didn't say anything, and did not stare, as tempting as it was. He took out a notebook and sat down at his desk, ready to study. Elphaba did the same. After a few hours, it was time for bed. Before he could give her his usual kiss goodnight, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Immediately afterwards, she turned over and closed her eyes before he could say a word.


	12. Chapter Eleven: Helping Each Other

**AN: I don't know if I got Elphaba to get comfortable too quickly. I'm not sure. I just… I felt like it was getting stuck and I wanted to move it along so they could actually feel safe and comfortable with one another. Let me know what you think.**

Chapter Eleven: Helping Each Other

The week went by quickly, and Elphaba had told Fiyero that it would be okay to spend some time with Galinda and Boq and maybe the others. She was hesitant about spending time in a larger group, and Fiyero did not push it. On Friday, Fiyero sat next to Boq again and asked him what he was doing that weekend.

"Well a bunch of us are going to hang out in the quad on Saturday. Do you and Elphaba want to come?"

Fiyero looked over at Elphaba, who was pretending not to listen. He knew she was listening and said, "Elphaba?"

She nodded, writing something down in her notebook.

When they got home that afternoon, Elphaba grabbed a book but sat close to Fiyero on the couch. Carefully, he put an arm around her. She didn't acknowledge it, but she didn't stop him, either. Instead, she kept reading.

Fiyero tried to read his book with his one available hand, but was struggling to turn the pages. When he dropped the book, he grumbled.

Elphaba looked up at him, smiling. "I think you need both hands."

"Are you saying you want me to move?"

"Not exactly," she blinked. "But you might have to choose between reading or staying like this."

"I like this, if you don't mind."

Elphaba grinned lopsidedly. "I could get used to it. If it's what you want. Can I continue reading, though?"

"Sure." Fiyero watched her read.

A moment later, she looked at him again. "Um, you're staring."

"Sorry."

"It's making me uncomfortable."

"Maybe I should read."

Elphaba nodded. "It's just that I don't like… I mean, people are always staring…"

"I know." Fiyero grabbed his book and sat as close to her as he could.

Elphaba tried to read, but couldn't help feeling distracted. Fiyero was smart, and he was kind to her, kinder than anyone had ever been to her. And his touch made her warm, stirred something in her that she was almost ashamed of. She knew he wanted them to be closer, but it scared her as well. She didn't know how to act when it came to affection. Another part of it was that she was afraid he'd hurt her. She knew they were married, but that didn't mean he had to care about her, at least not in this case.

But the way she felt when he kissed her made her cheeks darken and her body ache. The sound of his voice almost made her want to smile. She didn't understand what was happening to her. Wasn't this supposed to come first? How is it possible that the one man her parents forced her to marry turned out to be the one that she would feel such deep affection for? But she couldn't tell him. She could barely tell herself. It wasn't like she loved him or anything. She just liked him more than she liked most people. But that was a big thing, especially for her.

Some time later, Elphaba got up to get something to eat but found that they had little in the cupboards. "I think we need to go shopping," she observed reluctantly.

"Do you want to go or should I?" Fiyero thought for a moment. "Or we can go together?"

"I don't really want to," she admitted. "I just… I hate going out. And tomorrow we're going to have to go out and…"

"I'll do it. Is tomorrow okay?"

"Yes. There's enough here for now." Elphaba sat back down. She had finished her homework and didn't want to read too far ahead. In school in Munchkinland, she had read too far ahead and had accidentally talked about the wrong topics. While she was easily made uncomfortable, being embarrassed was something that didn't happen to her often, but it had happened to her that day at school. She looked over at Fiyero.

"Is something wrong?" He glanced up from his book. "Do you want me to go out now?"

"No, it's fine."

"Then why are you staring at me? I thought you didn't like it when I stared at you."

"Sorry. I'm just… bored."

"What did you do when you were done with school work at home?"

"I fixed up the house and made food and did the chores."

"Well, the house is pretty clean right now, and unless you _like_ doing chores, there's really nothing that needs to be done."

Elphaba laughed. "Um, okay. I wish I had more books here. Books just to read, you know?"

"Why don't I pick some up after we hang out with Boq and them all tomorrow and I get us food?"

"You don't have to. And, I mean, you wouldn't know what to get me."

"Then you'll have to come with. If you're up to it, I mean."

"I guess a trip to the bookstore might make it all easier."

Fiyero put his book down. "Let me make us dinner."

"I can help." Elphaba got up and grabbed some plates.

Fiyero couldn't help but laugh.

"What?"

"I was just going to make us sandwiches. It's not really a two person job."

"Well, I'll cut up some fruit to eat with them!"

"There are two apples left."

"Then I'll use them."

Fiyero didn't understand why Elphaba was being so helpful and domestic all of the sudden. "You're kind of energetic today."

"Well, it's just… I got really worked up in life sciences. Dr. Dillamond talked to me after class. He said I'm one of the best students he's ever had and he asked if I'd consider majoring in it. I guess I'm just excited. None of my other professors seem to really care about any of their students."

"That's great," Fiyero said. "Are you going to major in it?"

"I'm thinking about it. I found some of what he's been saying very interesting. I mean, Animals really are not so much different from humans when you examine their brains, and yet humans seem to think they're lesser than humans. There's all this research being done that might prove that Animals are the same. Maybe people would be nicer to them, then."

Fiyero nodded as the two of them sat down to eat.

"I… I think I understand Dr. Dillamond, too. I mean, people are always pushing him down and telling him that he's no good because he's different."

"A lot like you."

"And you, a little. At least here. I heard what Avaric said to you the other day in your economics class. Boq told me."

"It wasn't a big deal."

"He called you a..."

"I know. Elphaba, it's okay. What he says doesn't matter to me. And it shouldn't matter to you."

"That's true. We shouldn't let him get to us. He hasn't even said anything to me. Luckily he sits far enough away from us in life sciences that we don't have to deal with him."

It wasn't quite time for bed when they finished eating, and Elphaba looked over at Fiyero. "I need to wash up. Is it okay if I do it in the bedroom? I can use the bathroom if you want."

"You know, I've been thinking lately." He paused, realizing that this might sound a little bad. "How do you reach everything? I know sometimes I get itches I can't scratch on my back and…"

"I do my best," Elphaba shrugged.

"Well, I was just thinking, if you want help…"

Elphaba stared at him. "Thank you, but… I don't think we should… I mean…"

Fiyero bit his lip. "Yeah, you're probably right." He was blushing now.

Elphaba touched his hand, "It was a nice thought. Maybe when we get more comfortable."

Fiyero sighed. "I just feel like I try so hard to make you comfortable."

She smiled at him. "I am getting comfortable Fiyero. And I kind of want you to help me. But not yet, okay?"

He looked up at her, and her eyes darted away. She was ashamed to admit that she wanted him to touch her. Sweetly, he touched her chin and kissed her on the mouth. Elphaba melted into it hungrily.

She broke away after a moment. "You're working very hard to change my mind, aren't you?"

"Maybe."

"You're doing well." She walked into the bedroom, leaving the door slightly open.

Fiyero stared after her. He wasn't sure what that meant. Slowly, he walked into the room. She was still wearing her skirt, but her blouse was unbuttoned.

"I'll do the front," she said shyly.

"Okay."

She handed him a bottle of oil and he cupped some in his palms. He ran his hands along her back softly and she shuddered.

"Did I do something?"

"No, I just… no one's ever helped."

Fiyero smiled and handed her the bottle back when he finished. "I'll leave the room."

"Thank you," she said, not turning around.

He hadn't even seen the front of her, and he realized that she felt more comfortable that way. "I'm going to wash up in the bathroom."

When he left, Elphaba looked at herself. The skin he had oiled felt somehow different, like it was warmer, softer. She shivered and shook her head, looking towards the bathroom. What on earth was going through her head?


	13. Chapter Twelve: Heated Argument

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! I can't stop writing tonight, it seems!**

Chapter Twelve: Heated Argument

Elphaba followed behind Fiyero as they headed to the quad to meet the group. Galinda immediately leapt up when she saw them and came running.

"Elphie! Fiyero! Hi!"

"Um, hi, Galinda," Fiyero looked to Elphaba.

"Hi." Elphaba looked over at Boq, who had gotten up to greet them as well.

"Come sit down," Boq invited.

The couple sat down next to each other. Elphaba realized then why she felt so close to Fiyero. It felt like it was the two of them against the rest of the world. At home, she'd at least had her sister, Nanny, Shell or her father to argue with, to talk to, but here she was alone, and she didn't make friends easily. She was glad he was there with her. As much as she liked to be alone, everyone needed some sort of human contact. When he looked over at her, she smiled warmly at him.

"So, Elphaba, you haven't met everyone, yet," Boq commented. "Okay, this is Avaric, that's Crope, Tibbet, Pfanee, Shen-Shen and you know Galinda."

Crope and Tibbet got up and mock-curtseyed. "Nice to meet you!"

Elphaba laughed, but cut herself off when she saw how Avaric was smirking at her. But she didn't back down, she simply glared at him.

"Great," Avaric said snidely, "we already have a Munchkin, some sort of heathen," he gestured at Fiyero, "and now we've got a green skinned freak?"

Before Elphaba could say anything, Fiyero snapped, "What the hell is your problem?"

Elphaba looked at him, shocked. Every time she'd brought up how rude Avaric had been to him, he'd shrugged it off.

"What's hers?" Avaric responded, pointing at Elphaba.

"I got sick when I looked at you," she retorted quickly.

"Tell me, Fiyero, is she green _everywhere_?"

Fiyero stood up. "That's it! You shut up now, or…"

"Or what?"

"Fiyero!" Elphaba exclaimed, grabbing his hand. "What are you doing?"

"Avaric," Galinda intervened, "That was extremely rude."

Galinda's looks weren't only affecting Boq, it seemed. Avaric backed down. "Sorry."

For once, Elphaba was thankful for Galinda. She looked over at the blonde and mouthed, "thank you," and Galinda nodded back.

Shen-Shen asked, "So you two are married?"

"Yes," Elphaba answered reluctantly.

"For how long?"

"A month now, I think," Fiyero replied.

"That's nice. You guys live in the apartments?"

"Yes."

Crope looked at Elphaba curiously, "You look like you might be my size."

"What?"

"Can I borrow some of your clothes?"

"Excuse me?"

"I want to wear them."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"I don't think my clothes would suit you," Elphaba laughed. "They're all mostly black."

"Well that's no fun! I wear bright colors, right, Tibbet?"

"Yup. He wouldn't be caught dead in a black dress!"

Elphaba and Fiyero exchanged glances. Neither of them had ever met people quite like this before, but they seemed genuine.

After some time, Boq announced he had to do his life sciences homework and Fiyero asked, "Would you like to come over? Elphaba and I already finished. We could help."

Elphaba looked at Fiyero, wondering what the hell he was doing.

"I was going to work with Galinda. But if we have any trouble, I'll be sure to stop by!" Boq shook Fiyero's hand again.

"Well, we had better be going, too," Fiyero said, grabbing Elphaba's hand.

As they walked away from the group, Elphaba let her hand drop from his. "What was that?"

"What?"

"With Avaric? You looked like you were about to hurt him. I thought you said that his comments didn't bother you."

Fiyero sighed and looked at Elphaba. "They didn't. Not when they were about me. But he went too far."

"Fiyero, I've heard it all before."

"I don't know what happened. When he said that, I just…" He stopped walking for a moment and grabbed Elphaba's waist, "How could he say that about someone so beautiful?"

Elphaba wrenched away from him, "Fiyero, don't say that."

"What?"

"I'm not beautiful."

"You are to me."

She looked up at him. "That's very sweet, Fiyero. I just don't know what the hell got into you."

"I didn't want him saying that stuff to you."

"But he says it to you and you do nothing!"

"But you're different."

"You don't have to defend me, you know. I can handle it, Fiyero. I've handled it for years without you coming to my rescue."

"I know. It just made me so mad. You're not a freak. You're different, but not the way he said." He opened the apartment door for her and sat down beside her on the couch.

"Thank you." She let him take her hand. "Fiyero?"

"What?"

"I do kind of like you."

"Um, thanks, I think."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I just, this is so weird, and I don't like that we had to get married, but out of anyone, I'm glad it was you," she was blushing furiously and covered her face.

He tried not to laugh at her embarrassment and gently pulled her hands from her face. "I'm glad, too." Fiyero kissed her softly.

Elphaba kissed him back heatedly, pulling herself closer to him.

He placed his hands on her waist and brought one up underneath her blouse, slowly, giving her the chance to stop him. When she didn't, he kissed her deeper.

A moment later, she pulled away gently. "Wow."

Fiyero grinned at her. "Yeah."

She looked down. "Well…"

He brushed her hair away from her face. "We still have to pick up some food and get you some books."

"Oh! I almost forgot." She straightened herself out, looking away from him. "I have to use the bathroom, I'll be out in a minute."

Fiyero blinked and took a deep breath. He hadn't expected such a display of affection from Elphaba. He knew he shouldn't say anything to her about it again; she'd probably get uncomfortable about it. But he smiled, happy that she had felt comfortable enough to tell him how she felt, and that she felt that way. He resolved to continue treating her like she deserved. Now that they were getting closer, it would be easier than ever. Fiyero wanted her to feel safe with him. He also wanted her, although they both were a little uncomfortable about the idea of intercourse at the moment. But he knew in time they would grow closer, and that things would happen when the time came.

Elphaba came out of the room, her hair braided. She was carrying a small bag, change jingling inside of it.

"I was going to pay for the books," he offered, realizing that she had brought her own money out.

"Well, you aren't going to," she said kindly, but stubbornly. "Let me do this for myself."

"If you want to."

"I do."

"Then I will respect that."

She looked at him before they left the apartment. "I appreciate that, Fiyero. That's why I like you."


	14. Chapter Thirteen: The Future is Looming

**AN: Okay, dearies, one more chapter before the weekend is up… although I do have no class tomorrow, but it is a homework day. Well, for now we'll say this is the last one. I feel much more comfortable with this fic now. It took a little while to get back in the groove, but now I'm definitely getting into it again. I used to stay up at nights thinking about the next idea and I've started doing that again (which is a bit of a problem, considering I really should be doing that for the 40 page thesis I have to write). **

**Also, I feel a duty to warn all of my readers. I wish I could warn everyone in the **_**Wicked**_** section, but I don't know how. The Plays/Musicals section of Wicked has a Book/Musical world when there is a Wicked in the Book section. They are apparently getting rid of the "Book/Musical" world option and a fic will either be in the Book **** Wicked section or the Plays/Musicals **** Wicked Section. I don't know when this change will take place. So if something happens and you have trouble finding a fic, you might have to search around a little bit more. It does mean that my fic is less likely to be found because people gravitate to the plays/musicals section more, but hopefully you guys will stick with it!**

Chapter Thirteen: The Future is Looming

On Sunday, Boq stopped by to ask for help on a couple of questions from the life sciences homework. Elphaba was absorbed in her book, but Fiyero invited him to hang out in a study room in the library and work.

"Thanks so much. I don't understand this whole fish versus Fish thing and it's way over my head."

"I barely understood it, either, but Elphaba was pretty good at explaining it."

"Um, you know, I've wanted to ask about the whole marriage thing. It just seems a little weird for Elphie to be married. She never said anything."

"I think she knew about it as long as I did. Basically, our parents thought that it would be a good idea, since she's supposed to be Eminent Thropp and I'm a prince, that we join the East and West together."

"It must be strange."

"It can be. We're figuring things out. What was it like growing up with her?"

"Well, you know, she's Elphie."

"What was she like?" Fiyero was anxious to know these things. He'd been waiting to ask Boq these questions for a while, now.

"Not much different than she is now. I mean, I remember when we were very, very little, she was more friendly, or at least tried to be, but…"

"Her skin," Fiyero assumed. "People rejected her."

"Kids don't understand that differences aren't something to laugh at."

"People here don't understand that, either."

"You're talking about Avaric," Boq said quietly.

"Why do you guys hang out with him? He's mean to all of you. He makes fun of your height, Crope and Tibbet for their flamboyance (not that they mind) and then Elphaba and I for our skin."

"I don't really know. He was there when Crope and Tibbet first introduced me, and then Galinda and her friends joined us. I'm not sure if Crope and Tibbet like him or not, but they tolerate him."

"I don't understand why."

"I'm not sure that I do, either. But it's just how it is. I hope he didn't upset Elphaba too much."

"I don't think he upset Elphaba at all. It was me he pissed off. I just got fed up with him. He insults me all the time and then he went after Elphaba and it was the last straw."

Boq nodded. "Yeah, I understand. He said something mean about Galinda once and I was pretty unhappy."

"You seem pretty into her. But you barely know her. I mean, you were following around after you only glanced at her talking to Elphaba."

"She's beautiful! And she's so refined. She seems very friendly."

"Is that what matters to you?"

Boq grinned sheepishly. "I guess it does. I don't know. I've never seen anyone like her! I mean, she's a bit different than Elphaba."

"Elphaba's beautiful in her own way," Fiyero said defensively.

"I didn't mean to say she wasn't," Boq said quickly. "I was just saying that Galinda is… cut from a different cloth."

Fiyero agreed, "That's for sure."

"How did they meet, anyway?"

"Elphaba literally ran into her on the way to the bookstore," Fiyero laughed.

"I can see that. I didn't think they'd be friends."

"Yeah, me either. I don't know if they are, but they're acquaintances."

"They'd be interesting friends, wouldn't they?"

"Yup. Now what questions did you have?"

When Fiyero got home, Elphaba put down her book and looked up at him politely. "How was homework?"

"It was interesting. I got to talk to Boq some more. He seems pretty cool. I don't understand his whole fascination with Galinda – they've barely talked – but other than that he seems okay."

"Did he say anything about that?"

"He just rambled about how beautiful she was."

"Does he even know anything about her personality? That she's a complete klutz?"

"He doesn't seem to."

"That's kind of vain, don't you think?"

"A bit. I don't think he's really thinking straight. He'll figure it out eventually."

Elphaba nodded. "I bet you're glad you aren't blinded by my beauty," she joked.

Fiyero sat down next to her. "Not blinded. If I was blinded, I'd be pretty sad not being able to look at you."

Elphaba lowered her head. "I know this is going to sound strange, but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't talk about my looks so much. I'm just not used to it."

"That's okay. If it makes you uncomfortable, I won't do it anymore."

"Thank you." Elphaba kissed him deeply and smiled. "Nothing against you."

"I know." It looked like Elphaba was about to pick her book back up and Fiyero stopped her with a hand on hers. "Can we talk about something really quickly?"

"Sure."

"I'm really glad that we're getting more comfortable around each other. And I know a while back we agreed to avoid some of the more physical stuff…"

"Do you want to?" Elphaba looked at him, apprehensive and curious.

"Not quite. I was going to say that while we're comfortable and that's good, I feel like maybe that should wait until, well, until we both feel that we love each other."

Elphaba took a deep breath. "What if we never do?"

Fiyero was taken aback by this. It was an option he had not considered. He knew that he was coming to feel very strongly towards her and he believed that he would love her. It hadn't crossed his mind that she would never love him, not with the way she'd been acting recently. "What do you mean?"

Elphaba closed her eyes and paused. The truth was, she did care about Fiyero, but she was afraid of herself. No one had ever really loved her and she'd never loved anyone in return. What if she was incapable of love? "I don't know. I mean some couples don't. I'm not saying that I don't think we will. I just… I don't know."

"Well," Fiyero said, trying not to be hurt, "we'll talk about that when we come to it. But I think we've got plenty of time to figure that out. It's not as if people need to know what we're doing or we need to be having children right away."

"Do we have to?"

"Have to what?"

"Have children…"

Fiyero looked at her. "What?"

"I just… I don't know. I feel like I wouldn't be very good at that. I mean, as a mother. And I'm not sure it's what I want."

Fiyero smiled at her comfortingly. "I understand. It's a bit early to worry about that, anyway. Like I said about the other thing, we'll get to that when we come to it, okay?"

"Sorry. I get nervous about the future when I'm not quite in control of it," Elphaba admitted.

"Oh! Speaking of the future. I have to go into the city at the end of the week. I'm going to leave Thursday night and miss class on Friday. I'll be home Sunday. I'm really sorry, but my father wants me with him when he does some of his diplomatic stuff so that I can observe and learn from what he does. Are you going to be okay here? I can bring you with but you wouldn't be able to join my father and I, you'd basically be in the hotel and I didn't think you'd want to miss class."

"It's fine. I'll be fine by myself. I'm more than capable of taking care of myself," Elphaba reassured him. While she liked Fiyero, she was looking forward to having some alone time. Having to be social so often put a stress on her and she needed some time.

"I'll miss you, though."

"I will, too."


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Something's Missing

**AN: Thank you for enjoying that chapter! I was told it was a bit short, but the funny thing is, it was about the same length as the others, at least in word count. Perhaps there were more paragraphs and not as much dialogue and it looked shorter? Also, I did feel as though the dialogue was a bit forced, especially in the Boq and Fiyero section. I have always had trouble with dialogue, even in my nonfiction writing.**

Chapter Fourteen: Something's Missing

The week went by in a haze, as the second week of school in wont to do, filled with assignments and first quizzes. By the time Fiyero left Thursday night, he was glad to be getting a break, although he didn't want to leave Elphaba when they had so little time to talk during the week. But he knew that she'd rather be at school, and so he didn't beg her to come. Instead, he calmly said goodbye and kissed her before he left.

Elphaba collapsed on the couch and breathed a sigh of relief. It was nice to have some time in isolation. She got out her life sciences notebook and began going over the homework for the next day. Within an hour, she was feeling tired and got up to dress for bed.

She was surprised at how cold the bedroom was. Fall must be coming quickly! Elphaba pulled on some long underwear before pulling her nightgown over her head and climbing into bed. She hated to admit it, but the bed felt way too big without another person in it. She had always thought her tiny bed at Nest Hardings to be small, but this had to be ten times the size. Funny she'd never noticed before. Eventually, she found a spot she was comfortable in alone and fell asleep.

Elphaba almost forgot to lock the door on her way out of the apartment the next morning – Fiyero usually did that. She had to race back to make sure. When she finally got to class, she had just enough time to take her seat next to Galinda and take out a notebook. She had offered to make a copy of her notes for Fiyero.

Galinda smiled at her as she rifled through her things. "Fiyero's out of town, right?"

Elphaba nodded.

"Why don't we hang out tomorrow? That way you won't feel so lonely."

Elphaba laughed. "I don't feel lonely."

"Well, still. Don't you ever feel like you need time without boys around?"

Elphaba hadn't thought about that before. "I don't know. I've never really had girlfriends before."

"Really?"

"I guess not. Boq was the only kid who'd play with me back at home."

"Well, then we absolutely must hang out this weekend! Just the two of us!"

Fiyero was not there to bail her out, and she knew she should come out of her shell. It would be nice to have someone else to talk to, after all. "I guess."

Dr. Dillamond requested that Elphaba stay and talk with him after class, so, once she had finalized making plans with Galinda, she hurried over to his desk.

"Miss Elphaba, so good to see you," he smiled congenially. "Mr. Fiyero is absent today?"

"He had business in the city with his father."

"Ah, I see. Well, I was wondering if you had read that book I had leant you."

"Of course. I finished it Wednesday night. Is it true? Are people really trying to silence the Animals?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Well, I'm sure everyone can't feel that way. I mean, the Wizard wouldn't let…"

Dr. Dillamond let out a big sigh, the fur on his cheeks blew back.

"What?"

"It's possible, dear girl, that the Wizard is in fact behind it."

"But how?"

"I've been reading the papers very carefully these days. Sometimes things are mentioned, way at the back of the paper, often the last page. A few times the Gale Force has been cited as having taken action against the Animals."

Elphaba blinked. "I… I don't know what to think!"

"I am worried, Miss Elphaba, that my position as a valued staff member at this university will not last long. Madame Morrible has been rumored to have been in conference with the Wizard several times in the past months. I hope that it has nothing to do with the plight of the Animals, but I cannot be certain."

"But they can't fire you! You're one of the best professors at this school."

"Thank you, Miss Elphaba. It means a lot to me that you feel that way. Unfortunately, several other students have seemed uncomfortable with the idea of an Animal, something they usually see as lower than them, teaching their classes. But I want you to know that I intend to continue my research. I will prove that Animals are no different than people, and then the Wizard will be unable to ignore it."

"I can help," Elphaba offered.

"No, Miss Elphaba, it would be too dangerous. And that's why I wanted to speak to you. I have a bad feeling that things are going to change around here, and you're going to want to say something. But you're an intelligent young lady. If they come after you, your future will be ruined. If you want to do something for the Animals, keep your feelings to yourself. One day your intelligence will bring you to a position where you can speak your values, but until then, you must keep silence. I know I have attracted much more attention than I would like. It's why I believe I may be one of the first to go."

Elphaba left class feeling dejected and hopeless. She couldn't believe that Oz could be so corrupt. She'd never been happy with other people – that much was true – but she never thought that they could be so ignorant and so hurtful to an entire group of beings who deserved the rights that everyone else had. And Dr. Dillamond telling her to keep quiet worried her. She knew he was worried about getting fired, but it felt more serious than that. Was it possible he could be killed? She sat through her next class unable to concentrate. Her professor looked over at her numerous times during the class wondering why Elphaba was participating so much less than usual.

She wandered home slowly. Elphaba almost wished she had Fiyero to talk to. He'd understand, wouldn't he? She certainly couldn't talk to Galinda about it! Galinda could barely comprehend the idea. She didn't think she could talk to anyone about it, except Fiyero. It surprised her to realize that she missed him, longed to speak with him. Perhaps she was starting to feel something for him?

The rest of the day went by in a haze of thought. She barely made herself dinner, only munched on several slices of bread. She had trouble sleeping. The bed felt too big, she couldn't stop thinking about what Dr. Dillamond had told her, and the few times that did escape her mind, she couldn't stop thinking about Fiyero.

Elphaba got up late the next morning, having barely slept. She realized that Galinda was going to come over in half an hour and rushed to dress herself and eat a quick breakfast. She was washing the dishes with gloved hands when the blonde knocked at the door. She answered still wearing her gloves.

"Are you performing surgery?" Galinda asked, pointing at the gloves.

"No, just washing the dishes. It's, um, tough on my skin."

"Oh! That used to happen to one of our maids. Her skin was always cracking so she'd wear gloves. Does that happen to you?"

"You could say that."

Galinda plopped herself on the couch in a flurry of pink. "I'm so excited that you said I could come over! I've always wanted to see what it looked like here. So this is where you and Fiyero live?"

"It's nothing special, but yeah."

"It's nicer than the dorms. I have one of the nicest rooms and I'd still say this is nicer! But it could use some decorating. It's dreadfully boring."

"I'm not big on decorating."

Galinda's face fell. "Well, that's too bad. I could help if you wanted!"

"No thank you." In the back of her mind Elphaba could see the rooms covered in neon pink paint, shelves empty of books and covered in jewelry. She cringed.

"Sit down, Elphie!"

"Do you have to call me that?"

"Why not?"

Elphaba sat down. "Never mind."

"Did you do your homework?"

"Yes. Did you?"

"I'll do it tomorrow! It doesn't take that long."

Elphaba stared at Galinda. Either Galinda was much smarter than Elphaba thought, or she was completely clueless. Even Elphaba had to take her time with the life sciences homework. "What other classes are you taking?"

"I'm taking a sorcery class, specifically taught by Madame Morrible! It's so exciting. I've learned all sorts of things. I can change the color of clothing and towels."

"That sounds fun," Elphaba said encouragingly.

"It really is. If you want, I can ask if you can sign up! It's not too late in the semester…"

Elphaba wasn't sure what good it would do her to learn to turn dresses from black to pink, but she also realized that there might be some more complex sorcery going on in that class, sorcery she could use to do her research. And maybe if she got close to Madame Morrible, she could find out what was really going on with her and the Wizard. "You know, Galinda, I think I'd like that."


	16. Chapter Fifteen: An Intense Welcome

Author's Note: I'm sorry for not updating last weekend, but I had a family emergency. My dog was in critical condition at the vet the entire weekend and didn't come home until Tuesday. He's okay now, though! Also, I have yet again become addicted to another video game, so I can add that to my list of distractions. By the way, I haven't written sex in a while (did I just give something away? Oops!) Let's see how this goes. I hope it doesn't feel too forced.

**Chapter Fifteen: An Intense Welcome**

After Galinda left, Elphaba had a lot of thinking to do. A sorcery class… she knew of magic; she'd read plenty on it, but she'd never actually practiced it. People like Galinda who pranced around saying how they wanted to turn things pretty colors had turned Elphaba off of the idea of sorcery, so she had never thought about the usefulness of it. And sorcery was notoriously complicated; Morrible would only have let a student who had proved him or herself intelligent into such a class. Perhaps she had underestimated Galinda. She couldn't wait until Fiyero came home so she could talk to someone about all of this. He would be home tomorrow, and it surprised her how grateful she was for that.

She spent the rest of the day working restlessly on homework. Again, she got very little sleep and longed for Fiyero next to her. She couldn't stop thinking about everything and she knew he would've talked through this stuff with her. The next morning, she was making herself breakfast when Fiyero walked in.

She put the frying pan down and kissed him happily. "I kind of missed you."

"I missed you, too," he said, putting down his bags. "What are you making?"

"I was going to make some eggs. I didn't know you'd be home this early, let me just get some more…"

"I had breakfast in the carriage. Don't worry about me."

Elphaba rushed to eat so that she could talk to him. Fiyero unpacked while she gobbled down her eggs as though they were going to be taken away at any minute.

"That was fast," Fiyero said when he reentered the room. She'd already finished.

"You missed so much," she told him.

"Really? How many pages of notes?"

"No, not that. I mean… it's a long story. You didn't miss too much of life sciences. But after class, Dr. Dillamond and I talked and he gave me some very disturbing information about the Animals and that the Wizard might be behind repressing them and that he's worried for his life and that he doesn't want me to stand up about it because he's afraid I'll get hurt and he says I could instead go along with it and change things from within because he told me I had a lot of potential and I…"

"Elphaba, take a breath! That's the longest sentence I've ever heard and you're not even finished with it."

Elphaba flushed slightly. "Okay, oops. I've just been… well, wanting to tell someone and talk to someone about all this and Galinda was nice and everything when she came over but I just wanted to talk to you."

"Galinda came over? You invited her?"

"Well, she knew I was alone and asked me to hang out and I invited her here. I thought maybe when she wasn't around everyone else she might be more tolerable."

"That's good."

"But anyway, Dr. Dillamond thinks Morrible is in cahoots with the Wizard in suppressing the Animals. He's worried that he'll get fired or worse and he told me to stay silent if that should happen. I don't know if I can! It's ridiculous! Animals are just as smart as people. Dr. Dillamond is one of the most intelligent beings I have ever met."

"Do you really believe the Wizard could have something to do with it? I saw him briefly…"

"You what?"

"My father and I sometimes have to check in with the Wizard on business."

"What was he like?"

"We didn't really see _him_ exactly, we saw some kind of contraption that speaks for him."

"That's suspicious!"

"It is strange, but he didn't seem evil, Elphaba."

"Maybe that's what he wants us to think!"

Fiyero sighed. "What can you do, anyway, Elphaba? Dr. Dillamond is right; you should protect your future and leave it to other people to fight this. Besides, what if he's wrong about the Wizard? You could get into a lot of trouble for nothing."

"Well, thanks to Galinda, I've been doing some thinking," Elphaba paused, almost laughing at the irony of that statement. "She's in a sorcery class with Morrible."

"Isn't sorcery complex?"

"Very."

"But you seem to think that Galinda isn't exactly… Well, she gives the impression she's not as smart as you."

"She must know something. Morrible let her into the class. She told me she could see if I could get in since it's not late in the semester. I thought maybe I'd try to get close with Morrible, see if I can find anything out. And sorcery can't be a bad thing to know. It could help me get more respected and maybe get me into an important position. They are starting to allow women into important roles now."

"But Elphaba, you're going to have to live at Kiamo Ko, you realize that, don't you?"

Elphaba's face fell. "That's true," she took a deep breath and thought again about running away from this. But maybe… "Wait, you're a prince, though."

"Um, duh."

"And I'm to be Eminent Thropp."

"Yes."

"So both of us would have some influence. You've even met with the Wizard! Well, sort of, anyway." Elphaba had never cared that Fiyero was a prince. She had never once even really thought of him as one. But now she realized that it could have its advantages. He had power. She was going to have some power, too, and maybe more with some work. Even if she had to do this from Kiamo Ko, there had to be plenty of visits to the Wizard, if Fiyero would take her on them.

"Right. I think you have an idea there. But you need to realize that you and Dr. Dillamond could also be wrong about the Wizard."

Elphaba glared at him. "I think Dr. Dillamond knows what he's talking about! I know it's hard to believe. I never thought it was true, but I know Dr. Dillamond wouldn't just say that if he didn't have some evidence."

"That's probably true. I didn't mean to upset you. I'm just saying that it's always good to have proof about these things."

"What if he's not leaving any proof? He's the most powerful man in Oz! No one will question him. Why would they? They think he's doing everything right."

Fiyero nodded. "Okay. Would you like it if I kept an eye out, too, when I go back with my dad next time?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, exactly. But know that I know what you think, maybe I'll see something in the city or his palace that wouldn't have caught my eye before."

"Okay. I mean, don't say anything to anyone…"

"I won't."

Elphaba sat down on the couch and sighed deeply.

"This has really got you all worked up, huh?"

She nodded. "I just don't know what to think or what to do."

"Then don't worry about it until you have given it more time. You'll figure out what you think. I just don't want you to do anything too crazy if there's a chance you could be wrong."

"I understand," she said, trying not to be resentful. He did want what was best for her, but she hated him playing devil's advocate when she felt so strongly. Dr. Dillamond was an outcast, much like she was, and she hated to see him mistreated. All of her life she had fought to be taken seriously, and it wasn't fair that people could just tear down the Animals.

"Good," Fiyero sat beside her and put a hand on her leg. "I care about you and I don't want anything bad to happen. That's all."

"I know," she looked up at him. "Part of the reason I wanted to talk to you was because I knew you'd help me with it and talk me through it a little better. I wanted someone who knew well enough what they were talking about."

"Well I'm glad that you thought of me."

She smiled.

He leaned in and kissed her deeply. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her and he tried not to be shocked as she pressed her body against his. "Elphaba…" He pulled away slightly, gently.

"What?"

"I love you."

She looked at her lap. "Wow. I…"

"I'm sorry if that freaks you out. I just missed you a lot when I was gone and I got to thinking about you a lot. I like talking to you and having you around even when we're not talking. I was very lucky to have married someone so intelligent and strong."

Elphaba half smiled, blushing. "Fiyero –"

He interrupted her, "It's okay if you don't want to say it yet. I mean, it's important that you feel it when you say it and I know you're not completely comfortable with me…"

"No, stop. Fiyero, I love you, too. It was so strange with you being gone, to be honest. I hate admitting this, but I really didn't like being here alone as much as I thought I would. I did need someone to talk to."

Fiyero didn't quite know what to say, but she kissed him again and he didn't have to say anything. His hands fumbled with her blouse as she tugged him closer. "Are you…? Do you want…? Are we going to…?"

"If you want to," she breathed.

"I do if you do."

"Okay, then."

Fiyero gently removed Elphaba's blouse and kissed her torso slowly as he unbuttoned his own shirt. "Wait, on the couch?"

She laughed. "Does it matter?"

"I guess not."

"Are you stalling?" She asked suddenly.

"What?"

"I mean, are you nervous? Do you not want to? Is it me?"

"No! Elphaba, believe me, I want to. I didn't expect this, that's all. I guess when I told you I loved you I wasn't sure you'd say it back."

"Well I did."

"Yeah," he smiled lovingly, "you did." He kissed her again and removed her skirt. The night of their wedding, they hadn't really gotten the chance to truly touch one another, and he took the opportunity now.

She shuddered as he ran his hands along her body, down her abdomen and below her waist, kissing her neck softly. Her eyes went wide as his hand journeyed below her waist and she reached a hand to remove the rest of his clothing, too.

The slightest touch of her hand against him made him even more excited and he climbed over her, looking her in the eyes. "I love you," he murmured as he slid into her, watching as she threw her head back, lips half open. He buried himself within her as she scratched at his back, pulling him closer and closer, whimpering.

They moved slowly at first, but quickly found a fast rhythm as Elphaba's hips met his thrusts. But Elphaba was scared of the way he looked at her. She had never liked being looked at, and had never given thought to the idea of being looked at naked. He was looking at her hungrily, lovingly, and she closed her eyes as he continued moving, bringing her over the edge. He joined her there moments later, gasping.

He slowly moved off of her, brushing her hair away from her face. "Wow."

Elphaba was breathing heavily. "I never really said 'welcome home,' did I?"

"I think you did," he grinned. "I've never quite had a welcome like that, though."

Elphaba giggled. "Nope."


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Sky of Diamonds

**AN: Yeah, I know, it's been way too long, but I had thesis stuff and visits with my boyfriend and all sorts of stuff going on. So I apologize.**

**Chapter Sixteen: Sky of Diamonds**

That evening, Elphaba sat reading a book that Fiyero had brought from the Emerald City and Fiyero was attempting to study the notes Elphaba had copied for him. He was having trouble focusing, though. All he could do was think about what had happened on the couch that morning. Fiyero kept looking over at Elphaba, watching the way the firelight touched her dress (she had changed since that morning). "Hey, Elphie?"

"Don't call me that."

"But Boq does. And Galinda."

"Do you think I like it?"

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. Boq has been calling me that since we were children. It feels childish to me to be called it now, but I let him because that's how he knows me. And Galinda probably wouldn't stop calling me that if I asked her to. I wish Boq hadn't had to say it in front of her."

"Shouldn't we have some sort of nicknames for each other, though?"

"Why?"

Fiyero paused, "I don't know, really. My parents did."

Elphaba finally put the book down and looked straight at him. "Look, Fiyero, just because I said that I loved you and just because of what we did earlier… it doesn't mean we have to be all lovey-dovey. It kind of makes me uncomfortable, to be honest. I've never been affectionate, exactly."

"You were certainly affectionate this morning."

"In a different way. Fiyero, I do love you. But I'm not one to act like a lovesick puppy. I don't want to be cold to you and I'm sorry if that's how it comes across. I do like it when you touch me or you hold me or those little things, but it feels strange to me to say cutesy things and be romantic. Maybe I'll get used to it or like it someday, but right now I'm just uneasy."

Fiyero nodded understandingly. "That makes sense." He thought that, maybe, as a child, she hadn't had anyone show affection to her. She always seemed to expect people to reject her, and maybe that's why she wasn't used to being loving. He knew he had to let her do her own thing. He kissed her quickly on the mouth and went back to his notes.

Now she couldn't concentrate. His kiss had triggered a memory of that morning and now images were flowing through her head like water. But she had just washed and they'd already done that once today… She shook her head heavily and tried to get back to her work.

Fiyero looked over the notes that Elphaba had copied for him. They were diligent and neat, but they were immensely complicated. She went much deeper in her notes than he did, and he was almost positive that half of what she wrote he would never need to know again. But it interested her, and it made her happy. He tried to understand the words she had written so that he could connect with her more, but it wasn't getting through to him. He understood numbers much better than these concepts. When he looked up at her, he realized she'd been looking back at him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine… I was just thinking about earlier," she blushed.

Fiyero chuckled, "I can't blame you. I've been thinking a lot, too."

"I mean, it's just new and stuff and I want to try it a lot because it's new and it's not like I'm…"

"Elphaba, it's okay," Fiyero slid a hand on her knee softly.

Elphaba's eyes widened, his hand felt as though it was so hot it might burn a hole through her dress. What had gotten into her? He hadn't even meant to do that sexually, had he?

"I love you, Elphaba," he said softly.

"I love you, too. I'm just so confused here. I'm not used to some of these wants," she blushed" or feelings," she looked at his hand.

"You're not alone in that. But we're figuring this out, right?"

She looked back up then and kissed him, almost dragging him over her, pulling at his shirt. Her hands were everywhere. She would've pulled his hand to her nightdress if he hadn't started lifting it over her head fast enough. It was dark, and she felt safer naked than she had before because he couldn't see her too well. Elphaba was in a rush to remove every piece of clothing either of them wore.

"Slow down," he laughed deeply. "Give me a moment, here. I need to breathe, you know."

"Sorry," she murmured heatedly.

He took a deep breath and whispered, "That's perfectly okay. But maybe we should go to bed?" He gathered their nightclothes in one hand and grabbed her hand in the other and climbed onto the bed with her.

Slowly, she traced her fingers along the diamonds on his chest, counting them with her lips. They fascinated her, and she asked, "Where did these come from, Fiyero? You couldn't have been born with them, right?"

"When a boy turns thirteen in our tribe in the Vinkus, he must have the shape of his choice tattooed on his skin in the color of his choice."

"Why blue diamonds?" Elphaba asked, tracing the one along his navel and looking down but making no move to go further until she got an answer.

"I wanted to represent night and day and I always felt that the stars looked more like diamonds to me than how they were drawn in the books. So I chose diamonds with the color of the midday sky."

Elphaba seemed entranced, "That's beautiful."

"I'm glad I chose that, since you certainly seem to like them," he spoke softly into her ear.  
"Oh, I do," she smiled cunningly. She brushed her hands against him and looked him in the eyes sweetly.

The hand on her waist tightened slightly as he buried his face in her neck, slowly kissing, running his teeth along the skin agonizingly slowly. He heard Elphaba's breath catch in her throat and he pressed into her then, as she let out a mix between a hiss and a moan, one hand going limp, the other scratching at his back. As he thrust into her she mewled softly.

She loved watching the diamonds on his chest move back and forth as he did. She craned her neck to kiss along them and Fiyero slowed his movements to the point where she wanted to beg for him to move faster, where she felt her body moving with him in treacherous ways, a burning deep in her stomach. When she'd kissed every diamond that she could reach, she sat up partially, giving Fiyero a daring look.

"What?"

She pushed him playfully so that she was above him, sinking her hips against him, rocking quickly back and forth, biting her lip as the ecstasy moved through her. She got to a point where she couldn't continue moving and Fiyero grabbed her hips and thrust his own upward as she collapsed against his chest, out of breath.

After a moment, they both began to realize how cold it was to lie there unmoving, unclothed and without a blanket. Fiyero handed her the nightgown she had been wearing and put on his own clothes, moving to turn on the light. As the light went on, she fled to the bathroom with her nightgown.

"Are you okay?" He called through the door.

"I just wanted to clean up again…" She was only half telling the truth. As comfortable as she was with him, she just couldn't let him look at her. Elphaba quickly oiled up and pulled her nightgown back on.

Fiyero wondered why she didn't want to lie with him afterwards, even for a moment. That morning she had done something similar. But he didn't want to ask her about it – maybe it was just an issue of being clean. For all he knew, she could be allergic to bodily fluid! Perhaps he should ask about that, though. But wouldn't she tell him?

She came back into the room then, then. "Sorry. I just… it feels weird being all sticky and…"

"It's okay," he lied. "Are you ready for bed?"

She nodded and climbed in beside him.

He moved to draw her closer and she laid her head on his chest for a moment. If she continued to run from him after lovemaking, he'd talk to her about it then. But not while they were still getting used to each other. She fell asleep tracing his diamonds with her eyes and he fell asleep to the rhythm of her breath.


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Priorities

**AN: It took forever for me to pound this out. But here it is. It pushed some at the beginning, but once I got to Galinda and Elphaba having a some wine, well, then I just had the usual fun I have with the two of them, except here, Elphaba doesn't tell her everything (usually I have Elphaba tell her intimate details, and I really don't think Elphaba would, especially now). But she does admit to some things, after a little wine.**

**Chapter Seventeen: Priorities**

Elphaba sighed heavily as she waited for Fiyero to dress the next morning. She wanted to be early again. Dr. Dillamond might be there early, too, and she wanted to ask him what he thought about her taking a sorcery class, how useful it would be. And she wanted to see if Galinda had talked to Madame Morrible about whether or not Elphaba could join the class.

She was ready to go in there after him when he finally emerged from the bedroom. "I could not find my second sock! And guess where it was? In my first sock."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Ready to go now?" She folded her arms across her chest.

"Yes. Sorry." Fiyero hurried out the door behind her. "You're in a bit of a rush this morning."

"I want to be early." Elphaba was practically power-walking across the campus – Fiyero had to jog to keep up with her. He followed her to the classroom. No one was there when they entered. "Damn," Elphaba grumbled.

Fiyero laughed. "I guess we're too early." He made to take her hand.

Elphaba tore her arm away. "Not here!"

"It's an empty classroom, and I was just going to hold your hand innocently, Elphaba."

"It's a _classroom_," she insisted. "And not in public."

Fiyero raised his eyebrows but refrained from commenting. Despite the progress they'd made, they certainly weren't completely comfortable with each other yet. Following Elphaba's example, he took his usual seat. Unlike Elphaba, though, he didn't get out his book and start studying; he merely stared at his desk.

"Miss Elphaba, Master Fiyero, what a pleasure to see students arriving so early and getting ready to learn!" Dr. Dillamond smiled as he walked in.

"Good morning, Dr. Dillamond," Fiyero replied.

"Dr. Dillamond, I wanted to ask you about something." Elphaba leapt out of her seat and approached the desk at the front of the classroom where Dr. Dillamond placed his things.

"Ah, Miss Elphaba, so inquisitive, as always. What is it you want to ask me?"

` "In regards to our, well, cause, do you think sorcery would be a useful thing to know?"

"I think just about any knowledge would be useful. But sorcery could be an incredibly helpful thing, especially the more complicated type. What have you got in your head, young lady?"

"I was considering speaking to Madame Morrible and seeing if it wasn't too late to enroll in her sorcery class."

"Don't you already have a full schedule?"

"I can handle it," Elphaba replied dismissively.

"If you think you can, then I would certainly encourage it. Sorcery and science are two very different fields, but both hold extreme power in knowledge."

"Thank you, Dr. Dillamond."

"Just…"

"What?"

"Be careful around Madame Morrible…"

"I know." Elphaba noticed other students entering and returned to her seat beside Fiyero.

"You know, Master Fiyero, your wife is an incredibly talented and hardworking young lady." Dr. Dillamond beamed at both of them.

"I've noticed," Fiyero grinned. "I got lucky on that one."

Dr. Dillamond studied them carefully. He did have to wonder exactly how Elphaba and Fiyero had come to be married. Even after two weeks of speaking with Elphaba, it was clear to him that she was not exactly one to be chained down, especially not so early. And though Fiyero seemed like a bright and king young man, it seemed strange for Elphaba to simply have married him – or anyone, for that matter. But he did not make it a habit of inquiring about his students' personal lives, and Elphaba had not volunteered any information (which, knowing Elphaba, wasn't a surprise). He could see in the young man's eyes, however, that he cared very deeply for Elphaba, and this made Dr. Dillamond smile. And, though it was difficult to spot, Elphaba seemed to have some sort of affection for Fiyero, as well, though it seemed to be repressed and ignored.

Galinda came hopping into the classroom, then, and sat down beside Elphaba. "Elphie!"

This was another relationship that had taken Dr. Dillamond by surprise. The blonde, flighty girl and the stubborn and serious Elphaba. Elphaba had surrounded herself with quite an interesting group of characters - that was for sure.

Elphaba lowered her voice and spoke to Glinda. "Have you spoken with Madame Morrible?"

Galinda nodded. "I ran into her in the dorms this morning while she was doing room inspections. She said she's been following your progress at Shiz and that she would welcome you into her class. You would have to keep up good marks to continue, though."

That sounded easy enough. "That's great. When is the class?"

"Wednesday afternoons."

That was one of Elphaba's only free afternoons. "Perfect."

Fiyero resisted the urge to place a hand on Elphaba's and merely said, "That's great."

Dr. Dillamond cleared his voice and began his latest lecture.

Later that evening, Galinda had somehow convinced Elphaba to eat with her at the café, just the two of them. Fiyero had some hand in this, insisting he'd be fine on his own and that he needed to study for his economics class, anyway. He made sure to say that in front of Galinda, so it made Elphaba look rude if she refused to go, forcing her hand a little. So she, being slightly socially conscious, reluctantly agreed.

Galinda had ordered them a bottle of wine, which Elphaba was uneasy about. She'd had a little to drink in Munchkinland, in religious ceremonies with her father, and of course she'd had plenty to drink during the festivities of her wedding night, but other than that, she wasn't one to drink. Still, she politely had a sip or two.

"Tell me something," Galinda said.

"Something," Elphaba responded sarcastically.

"No, really, I want to know, about you and Fiyero."

Elphaba raised her eyebrows. "We're married. I told you."

"I know, but how does that work? I mean, you don't act like a couple."

"Why should we?"

"Because you're _married_."

"That doesn't mean we have to act like lovesick idiots."

"Do you love him? I mean, even though you didn't have a choice in marrying him?"

Elphaba sighed and took another sip of wine. "Why does it even matter? We're married. We can't change that."

"Because at least if you love him, it's not so bad."

"Galinda, the idea of being married is bad in general, as far as I'm concerned. I have – had – no interest in such things."

"Why not?"

"It just doesn't – didn't – appeal to me. But, really, why are we talking about this? As I said, it doesn't much matter."

"What's it like being married?"

"It's different. I have to share my living space with someone at all times. I don't do a lot on my own anymore."

"What about… well, you know, in bed…?"

"That is a completely inappropriate question!"

"Sorry," Galinda flushed, sipping from her own glass and pouring both Elphaba and herself another glass. "I just want to understand what your life is like."

Elphaba gulped down half the glass, wiping her mouth. "Galinda, I understand that. But, no offense, we're not that close at the moment. And it's not as if I'd talk about it at all."

"Well, we should get closer!" Galinda exclaimed.

Elphaba laughed. "What do you think we're doing right now?"

Galinda giggled. "Is he nice to you, Elphie? He seems like a nice guy, but sometimes people are different in private."

"That is certainly not an issue. He's very kind."

"That's good. It would be terrible to be stuck with someone who was mean and abusive! You must be thankful."

"I do appreciate that," Elphaba admitted. "And he's smart enough that we can have an intelligent conversation, which is also nice."

"Does he love you?"

"I don't… I mean, I think so." Elphaba shrugged.

"You don't know? You don't care if he does?"

Elphaba lowered her eyes, taking another large gulp of wine. "I guess I know. I mean, he says he does. But I… if I cared, that would make things even more complicated."

"_If_ you cared. Do you?"

She put her glass down on the table and looked at Galinda. "Yes."

"That's sweet."

Elphaba shook her head. "I don't want to care."

"I don't understand, Elphie, doesn't it make being married to him better if you do care about each other? How are you supposed to live with someone, share a bed with him, if you don't at least care a little?" Glinda poured Elphaba more wine.

"And what if he doesn't care? Doesn't that make it worse?"

"You said he does."

"He thinks he does. But that can change. My mother loved my father. But later on, I don't think she did anymore."

"Elphie, that's not always how it works," Galinda said gently.

Elphaba rested her head on her elbow. "I don't need it. I have schoolwork to worry about and love is just too much."

"Maybe, no offense, your priorities are a little off."

Elphaba sat up straighter and folded her arms across her chest. "I don't think so. It'd be easier if I didn't care. No one could hurt me, then."

"But you do care, Elphie, and I think it's too late for you to change that."

Elphaba sighed. "I worry that you might be right about that."


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Family

**Chapter Eighteen: Family**

The weeks went by slowly and it felt like it had been much more than two months when they finally reached the fall holidays. Elphaba and Fiyero were to return to Kiamo Ko. Somehow Elphaba doubted they'd ever return to Nest Hardings; her father couldn't care less. Would she ever even see her sister again? Elphaba had figured as much when she had been married off, but she still missed Nessa. She even missed Nanny a little.

Fiyero tapped her on the shoulder as she stared out the carriage window. "You're quiet."

"What is there to talk about?"

He shrugged. Fiyero knew that some couples, _normal_ couples, could sit in silence and not feel uncomfortable, but clearly he and Elphaba were not at that point yet. "You're probably right."

She turned back to the window.

After a moment he spoke again. "Elphaba?"

She glared at him. "What?"

"I noticed that… that you haven't gotten any letters from your family," he said quietly.

"And…?"

"Well, my parents have written us a lot, and we're going to see them. Would you like to go see your family sometime, maybe during the winter? I could arrange it."

"My family isn't writing because they don't care if they see me. And I don't care, either," Elphaba folded her arms across her chest, lowering her eyes. It did upset her a little, but what could she do? Nessa probably would write if she had arms. She'd thought that maybe Nanny would be kind enough to write a letter for Nessa, but that apparently wasn't the case.

"Are you sure? I couldn't imagine not seeing my family."

"Well, that's good for you," she snapped, "but I don't care."

He realized he'd hit a sore spot and wisely backed off, putting it in the back of his mind. Fiyero would try and find out more about that later, though now clearly wasn't the time.

She sighed after a moment and spoke again. "Fiyero?"

"What?"

"Do you think people can just stop caring for each other? Fall out of love?"

"What are you saying? That you…?"

"That I what? That I suddenly stopped caring about you? No. I've barely started to. It's a little early for that! I'm not talking about us right this moment. I'm thinking about couples I've seen, like my parents, who just didn't love each other in the end. All those childhood fairytales tell you love is supposed to be forever, and from what I've seen, it almost never is."

Fiyero bit his lip. He didn't know how to respond to this. He wanted to tell her that he'd never stop loving her, but he thought it was a bit soon to say so. Perhaps their 'I love you's and the lovemaking had been too soon, too, especially for her. He could tell how badly she wanted to care for him, and that she did care some, but he wasn't sure she felt that strongly just yet. But this question, where had it come from? Had it come from him asking about her family, or was there more to this question than she was saying? "Elphaba, that's a tough question, specifically for me. My parents were arranged to be married, and yes, they respected each other, but I don't know if they ever loved each other, so I don't know. All I know of real love is in books. I'd like to think that if people really truly love each other, than that doesn't change."

She nodded. "Neither one of us had a very good examples to look up to in regards to the relationship thing, huh?"

"I guess not. That doesn't mean we can't figure it out on our own."

Elphaba gave him a half-smile. "You're always so confident about this."

"I… I am. Because I know that we care about each other, and that if we work with that, we'll be fine. There are just a lot of things to work around."

"That's for sure," Elphaba laughed.

They arrived at Kiamo Ko two days later. Fiyero's parents were not even there to greet them when they entered; the servants merely showed them up to their room. But one of Fiyero's younger brothers came dashing in as soon as he knew they were there.

"Fiyero!" A boy of about thirteen practically ran straight into Fiyero. "Mother and Father are in the dining room. They said you could come say hello whenever. But Fiyero, they've chosen a bride for me and I can't stand her! She's hideous and annoying!"

"Slow down, Les, you haven't even given us a proper welcome," Fiyero chided.

"Oh, sorry," the young man looked at Elphaba and Fiyero, "it's good to have you back, Fiyero. And it is nice to see you again, Miss, um, Miss…"

"Elphaba," Fiyero supplied.

"Miss Elphaba."

Elphaba nodded, "Thank you."

Fiyero folded his arms across his chest and looked at his brother with his eyebrows raised. "Now what is this about Mother and Father choosing you a bride?"

"First of all, she's two years younger than me!"

"Les, that's normal."

"But she's… she's hideous! She looks so… childish!"

"She's eleven, Les. You won't be married until you're eighteen. She'll be sixteen by then and I'm sure she'll look much more mature." Fiyero rolled his eyes.

Les groaned. "No one understands! And she is irritating! She never stops talking and talking and talking."

"Again, she's eleven. That is what eleven-year-old girls do."

"Ugh! I thought maybe you would get it. Of course not, _you_ already got married!" Les stomped out of the room.

Elphaba looked after him curiously. "Your brother looks even a little older than he did when I first saw him, though I barely got a glance at him then."

"He's acting just as immature as he was then. I wonder if they've picked a bride for Mak, as well. They are twins." Fiyero began to unpack his things.

"So your parents just pick brides? How does it work for the girls?"

"It's a little different because we are the royal family. Usually, both families come to some sort of agreement, like in our case. But since my father is the king, he can choose whatever girl he wishes to marry his son, or sons. If I had a sister, I think it would be something similar, although I'm not quite sure. My mother had a daughter, but she died just a little after she was born," Fiyero explained.

"How old were you when that happened?"

"The twins' age." Fiyero closed his suitcase. "Come, we should probably greet my parents. They'll be expecting us. In fact, they probably have some midday snacks on the table."

"I am a little hungry," Elphaba admitted, following Fiyero out of the room.

Elphaba sat down silently at the table beside Fiyero, across from his parents. She focused on the mahogany of the table rather than looking at them, not knowing how to speak to them.

"Good afternoon, Son. I trust your journey was comfortable," Fiyero's father said.

"It was fine, thank you," Fiyero replied.

"How have you been doing with your studies?"

"I've been doing well. But Elphaba has been doing even better. Next semester she may a lab assistant to our life sciences professor."

Elphaba looked up when Fiyero spoke her name, smiling nervously.

"That's interesting," Fiyero's father said dismissively.

Fiyero's mother smiled at her kindly. "You must be a smart girl."

"I just like doing my work," Elphaba shrugged.

"Why don't Fiyero and I talk for a little while in the other room? I'm sure you ladies can occupy yourself with some sort of silly chatter." Fiyero's father got up and gestured for Fiyero to follow him into the living room.

Fiyero followed him reluctantly, sitting down across from him at the coffee table.

"Are you happy with your wife? She is behaving appropriately?"

"I'm happy," Fiyero answered.

"I will admit I was a little hesitant to arrange your marriage with her. I was uncertain of how Munchkinland women behave. And when I saw her… deformity… I almost stopped the whole thing. But you did not seem to object, and I thought I'd wait and see."

Fiyero bit his lip. "She is a wonderful woman, Father. And I have come to see her as quite lovely."

Fiyero's father nodded solemnly. "That is good. For the most part, I don't question my decisions, but this one was different than most. It is uncommon for an Arjiki prince to marry outside the tribe, much less outside the Vinkus. But her parents made a good argument; together our families can be more powerful. For some strange reason, your wife is to hold some sort of important position in Munchkinland. I don't understand why it wouldn't go to her younger brother, but I don't question their traditions. I'm glad to hear she is intelligent, merely because it means that perhaps she truly is qualified to hold such a post."

"She's more intelligent than I am."

"Well, don't let her know that!"

"I think she does. She's pretty much more intelligent than anyone else at Shiz."

Fiyero's father chuckled. "It must be interesting, Shiz with women around. When I was sent there, that was not the case!"

Meanwhile, Elphaba sat with Fiyero's mother.

"I hope you have been getting on well at Shiz?" Fiyero's mother asked pleasantly.

"Oh, yes. It's been quite an experience and we haven't even finished our first term."

"Have you made any friends?"

"I believe so."

"That's good. It is important to have other women to talk to. It can get lonely."

"I don't mind being lonely," Elphaba shrugged.

Fiyero's mother looked at her curiously for a moment. "Have you been taking good care of Fiyero?"

Elphaba worded this as best as she could, trying not to say what she had impulsively wanted to say, which was that it wasn't her job to "take care" of Fiyero. "Fiyero doesn't need taking care of, Ma'am. He's quite good at taking care of himself."

Fiyero's mother smiled at this. "Yes, he was always a little more independent, never taking the servants help and doing everything for himself. He even cleaned his own room."

The idea of anyone else cleaning her room baffled Elphaba, but she supposed it came with being royalty. "He's very polite that way."

Fiyero's mother examined Elphaba. "Am I mistaken or have you actually begun to care for my son?"

"He's a good person," Elphaba said simply.

"This is something I did not expect."

Elphaba began to feel defensive. "I didn't say I cared. He's just very respectful, and I appreciate that."

Fiyero's mother raised her eyebrows, but said nothing.

Fiyero and his father's conversation was coming to an end. "Thanks, Father, for asking. We really have been doing just fine."

"Oh, and one last thing."

"What, Father?"

"You two have been, well, _behaving_ like a married couple? You need an heir as soon as possible."

"Father, we're both in school."

"She can drop out."

"Why can't it wait?"

"Why does it have to?"

"I…" Fiyero didn't want to do this to Elphaba. And she wouldn't let him, anyway. She was well aware of when she could get pregnant. So he needed to make an excuse to his father so that he didn't think that either they weren't coupling or that Elphaba was infertile, which could get her exiled or killed. "If I want to do well in my studies, I really shouldn't have a baby keeping me up all night."

His father sighed. "I can understand this. We'll revisit this in the summer, then. But you are continuing to…?"

"Yes, Father. Why wouldn't we?"

"I was just checking. She seems a little… cold. I just wanted to make sure she wasn't giving you any trouble."

"She isn't," Fiyero said, getting irritated at direction the conversation had gone.

When the two men returned to the room, Fiyero sat beside Elphaba and put a hand on her knee lovingly. She twitched and shifted away, staring down at her feet, aware of his mother's stare. He felt rejected, but could tell she had some reason for her reaction, so he merely looked across the table at his mother.

Elphaba cast a sideways glance at Fiyero. Why was everyone – Glinda, Fiyero, Fiyero's mother – trying to tell her how she felt about him? She cared a little, so what? It didn't mean anything. Yes, once or twice, she'd been overcome with passion for him and had said more than she had meant to. If everyone would just let her sort out her feelings on her own, she could decide for herself.


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Push

**AN: I am glad that it wasn't strange that Elphaba regressed a little bit in regards to her comfort level with Fiyero. I feel like she has these moments of passion, but when she snaps out of it she backs away quickly, almost wishing she could take it back. And I also, honestly, think I put that scene way too early, so I'm trying to rework it. I can't take back what they said or that they slept together (but they're freaking married, so what do you expect?), but I can play with how she feels. And how he feels. And that's what this chapter primarily deals with.**

**Chapter Nineteen: Push**

The two weren't left alone again until after dinner when everyone relaxed and Fiyero and Elphaba headed up to their bedchambers after grabbing books from the library. Elphaba climbed onto the bed with her book and quickly began reading. Fiyero climbed up next to her and buried his face in her hair. She shifted away, glaring at him.

"What?"

"I'm trying to read, Fiyero."

"You've been pushing me away a lot lately," Fiyero observed.

Elphaba sighed and put the book down. She couldn't avoid this conversation forever. When she looked up at him she realized he was shirtless beside her and for a moment she let her gaze move down along the path of the diamonds. She realized herself and snapped back to reality. "How can I push you away when we aren't that close?"

"I felt like we were getting closer."

"We do have moments," she admitted, "but I am not there yet."

"But you said…"

Her eyes lowered. "I know what I said. I haven't said it much since. Oh, Fiyero, how do I say this? Sometimes, there are moments when I just lose myself, and then… but I'm not always like that, and when I'm not like that, I don't know how much I… I really don't know what I'm trying to say, here. I meant it when I said it. And I've meant it every time since. But I don't feel quite there, yet, not all the time."

Fiyero took her hand gently. "That's fine. I'm just trying to understand _why_ you go in and out on this. Is it something I do?"

"No, not at all. You are wonderful," she flushed, "but I spend a lot of time in my head, Fiyero, thinking about things, and sometimes that creates a sort of whirlwind. I don't know how to explain it to you."

"Does that mean you'll always be back and forth? Because, no offense, I might go a little crazy after a while."

"No, it doesn't. You need to stop pressing it. Give me time. Fiyero, I care about you, I do. I share a bed with you. I share my body with you. But I just can't put myself into this all the way right now."

He nodded. "I'm sorry if I've been pushy about it."

"It's fine. I can understand why you would be. Fiyero, you realize that you're not in this completely yet, either, right? If you were, you'd say what you want to say to be without backing off like you do and being afraid."

"How do you know I back off?"

"You do it all the time. And I appreciate it. But at the same time, being married is going to be even more awkward if you're afraid to talk to me about some things."

"You can read me pretty well." He smiled at her.

"You can read more into me than I'd like," she admitted.

"Is that a bad thing?"

Elphaba laughed. "It makes me uneasy now, but it's probably better in the long run."

"I want to make you happy, Elphaba. I want us both to be happy."

"Trust me, you're doing the best anyone could," she said honestly.

He kissed her and she pulled him back onto the bed, tossing her book to the floor.

Later that evening, he looked at her, now in her nightclothes, though he hadn't bothered to dress at all. "Since you've told me that I back off a lot, I'm going to ask you something."

She cocked her head at him. "What?"

"Why do you always run into the other room right after we make love?"

"Because it's messy. I need to clean up."

"Are you allergic to…?"

"No! I would certainly tell you that!"

"Then why are you in such a rush to clean up? Why can't you just lay here with me? It feels like the moment it's over, you change into a completely different person and run away, closing yourself off."

_Damn, he really can read me too well._ When she looked into his eyes, she felt weak. "I don't want to be naked," she said quietly.

"Why? Do you get cold? We could get a blanket."

"I'm not attractive, Fiyero," she spat. "I don't want you to see…" Elphaba trailed off, then shut her mouth forcefully. What was she doing, telling him this?

Fiyero stared at her and shook his head. "Elphaba, I don't know who told you that you weren't beautiful, but I think you are. I'm not lying just to make you comfortable. I mean it. The moment you walked into Kiamo Ko on our wedding day I couldn't get over how lovely you were." He was almost glad she had said this, in a way. She had told him something she probably wouldn't have if she didn't feel comfortable with him.

Elphaba's cheeks darkened. "Fiyero, that's…" She didn't know what to say without accidentally saying too much like she had only moments before. "Thank you."

"Please don't run away from me," he whispered.

"I don't know…"

"Just try next time, just once?"

For some reason, it felt to Elphaba like doing so would be giving him more of her than she was ready to. Logically, this made no sense. They'd made love, and that was supposed to be the most intimate thing on earth. She took a deep breath and nodded, "I'll try."

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead. "I don't understand why you would think that I wouldn't be attracted to you. Would I be so eager to get you into bed if I wasn't?" Fiyero teased.

Elphaba laughed lightly. "You could be just taking what you can get."

"I would not be nearly as enthusiastic if that were the case," he murmured against her ear.

She shuddered, not out of fear. "Well, if you can't tell, I get pretty enthusiastic, too."

"Is that a compliment, Elphaba?"

"It is. I happen to find that you are quite nice to look at." Elphaba's brain and mouth were clearly not connected. The things she was saying may have been true, but they certainly weren't what she meant to say to him! It felt like the blue of his eyes drowned her, made her delirious. The feel of his arms drugged her and made her melt. She hated it. She loved it, too. She gave in and traced the diamonds again.

"No one's ever told me that." Fiyero laughed deeply.

"Well, no one's ever called me beautiful before, either, so now we're even." Elphaba turned away from him, unable to let herself continue looking at him. She was afraid she'd say even more. "I'm tired."

"You're shutting me out."

"Yes, I am. I'm tired and a little embarrassed. Let me sleep."

Fiyero sighed. "Goodnight, Elphaba."

"Goodnight, Fiyero."

He wasn't sure why, but he woke early that morning. She was still sleeping. Fiyero rarely woke up before she did. Usually she was almost ready for the day by the time he woke up. He looked at her, her braid loose, lips parted slightly. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he knew she was a light sleeper and would wake up if he moved too much. Fiyero smiled lightly and pulled himself out of bed after a few moments.

She woke, then, and looked at him. "I'm surprised you're awake already." Her face flushed when she noticed he still wasn't dressed and she turned away.

"It must be the change of scenery." He smiled at her, but she wasn't looking. Fiyero went to the bathroom. "I'm going to wash up."

"I will, too." Elphaba replied. She thought about the conversation they'd had the previous night, and the way she'd just pushed him away at the end. She should at least let him have something, right? As he headed into the bathroom, she murmured, "Fiyero?"

He could barely hear her, but he stopped. "What?"

She got out of bed and grabbed a bottle of oil from her bedside table, then shyly stepped out of her nightgown. "Would you like to help?"

Fiyero blinked, surprised by the sudden gesture. A smile crept across his face. "Yes, I would love to."


	21. Chapter Twenty: Weakness

**AN: This has been moving very slowly. I've been having to almost push it out, so I hope none of this feels forced. It's so slow right now for me in general.**

**Chapter Twenty: Weakness**

Elphaba took a deep breath, looking at Fiyero. They'd gotten back to school the day before, and he was exhausted. As usual, she was up much earlier and classes didn't start again until the next day. Gingerly, she pulled his arm from around her, got out of bed and went to find some clothes, stretching.

She'd given in to his request to try and be more comfortable with him when she was naked. But she didn't look in his eyes when she was, just like when they made love. If he saw into her eyes, then she might have to share more than she wanted to. It was easier for her to share her body with him than her mind. He felt like he was getting somewhere with her, and she had more time to figure out what she was feeling. Elphaba realized she couldn't put it off much longer. He was too smart to let her hide from him forever. She just needed time.

He was smiling in his sleep and she couldn't help but find it sweet. She touched his cheek, just for a moment, and then drew her hand away quickly. How did he get to her like this? He was the only person who genuinely cared what she thought, if she was happy, who cared about her at all. But that didn't mean she had to fall for him like some silly teenager, no matter that she was a teenager at only seventeen. She wouldn't turn eighteen until early summer, just before his nineteenth birthday. She didn't intend to even tell him when it was her birthday, Oz only knows he'd try to do something cute.

Once she was clean and dressed, Elphaba wandered into the living room and sat by the window, staring across campus. The grass was yellowing and it no longer matched the color of her skin, it was probably closer to Boq's skin now than hers, though just barely. The trees no longer had her coloring, either, if they had any color at all. She almost smiled, thinking that she was the only green thing around here that didn't wilt when the cold weather came along. Students wandered along the pavement aimlessly. There was a group of students in the quad sitting in a circle. She assumed they were giggling and laughing and having fun, though she couldn't be sure. It was early for students to be up, but perhaps they were making the best of the last day before they had to return to the grind of classes.

Elphaba was so deep in thought that she didn't hear when Fiyero came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. She jumped. "Hey!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you," he said softly.

She felt herself soften slightly, unwillingly. "It's fine."

"What do you want to do today?"

"There isn't much _to_ do, Fiyero. I guess we could go over what we were learning in classes in case we forgot anything during the holidays."

Fiyero laughed. "That is not what I meant. You do that every day, Elphaba. And as good of a student as you are, you need to focus on something else once in a while." He slid his arms around her waist.

She felt a shiver sneak down her spine. Every time he touched her she just wanted to do everything he asked, physically, emotionally… How could she live with him when he had this effect on her? Why did she let him affect her? Elphaba gently scooted away from him. She patted the spot next to her to keep him from thinking she was trying to pull away from him, despite the fact that she was doing exactly that. "I don't know what else there is to do."

He sat beside her. "We could grab something to eat for breakfast, or see what Galinda and Boq are up to, meet up with them."

"Maybe we could," Elphaba agreed. Perhaps if Fiyero had other people to talk to, he wouldn't focus on her so much and she could shake off the tension. It didn't have to be tense, she knew. If she could just let herself love him, really love him… but she just wasn't ready to, if she could at all.

Fiyero went to go find Boq, gently waving Elphaba in the direction of Crage. They were to meet up at the café in half an hour, whether or not they'd gotten either Boq or Galinda to come with. Elphaba trudged up the stairs in Crage Hall to the third floor, where she knew Galinda's room was (she'd been there once or twice, though she tried to avoid it for the most part). She knocked on the door.

Galinda swung open the door looking peppy as ever. "Elphie! You're back!"

"Yes. Fiyero and I were going to breakfast and we wanted to know if you would like to come. Fiyero is inviting Boq, I think."

"Of course I'd like to!" Galinda invited Elphaba into the room and began a long preparation process, fluffing her dress and primping her hair. She then grabbed a white sparkly bag from her bed, covered in pink ruffled pillows. She tossed a few compacts in it and dragged Elphaba back to the door. "Let's go!"

Elphaba struggled to walk at the same pace as Galinda. She was a fast walker, but apparently that wasn't quite the same as skipping. The green girl was basically out of breath by the time they reached the café.

Boq and Fiyero had already arrived, though Elphaba wondered how they'd gotten there faster than she and Galinda when Galinda had been bouncing along so quickly, though she had taken forever to get ready. They found a table in a corner in the back. Elphaba sat beside Fiyero while Galinda and Boq sat across from them.

Elphaba noticed that Boq was yawning and rubbing his eyes. "Did you just wake up?"

"When Fiyero knocked on the door, yes."

"Fiyero, I told you not to drag him out of bed."

"He woke up. I told him he didn't have to come if he wanted to go back to sleep, but he insisted," Fiyero lowered his voice so only Elphaba could hear, "when he heard Galinda might be here, of course."

Elphaba raised her eyebrows at Fiyero and turned back to Boq. "How were the holidays for you, Boq?"

"I went home to Munchkinland, though we could scarcely afford to," Boq flushed, wondering what Galinda would think about that comment. Hurriedly, he continued, "Anyway, I saw your sister. She misses you terribly and sends her regards."

Elphaba lowered her eyes, feeling Fiyero's eyes on her. "Thank you, Boq. If you should see her during the winter holidays, tell her I miss her, as well."

Fiyero put hand on Elphaba's under the table. "We went back to Kiamo Ko for the holidays."

"Is that your _castle_?" Galinda asked excitedly.

"It's not the kind of castle you're probably thinking of, but yes, it is a castle."

"What do you mean?"

"It's stone and grey and unexciting. And a little cold, which is actually a blessing as the Vinkus can often get very hot and dry."

"I like dry," Elphaba commented.

Fiyero smiled at her. "I know."

"So you saw Fiyero's family? I hope everyone was well," Boq said.

"Everyone was fine, thank you," Fiyero replied.

"How was _your_ break, Galinda?" Boq asked eagerly.

"It was lovely. Gillikin is so pretty in the fall! And there are so many cute little shops open along the lake near our home. And Father let me buy some more beautiful dresses. Oh, Elphie, you must try on one of them. I just thought of how pretty it would look on you!"

Elphaba's eyes widened and she looked horrified. "Um, thank you, but… no."

"Why not?" Galinda pouted.

"We probably aren't the same size and we don't exactly wear the same style."

Galinda sighed. "But you haven't even tried!"

Fiyero was watching this interaction, thoroughly amused. He thought about pushing it along, but he knew that Elphaba would probably kill him for it. "I think Elphaba's probably right," he said, instead. He thought staying on Elphaba's side in this discussion would be best for him.

"Maybe another time," Glinda decided.

"Maybe," Elphaba pushed a smile, just trying to get the subject dropped.

"What's your castle like? Do you have servants?" Galinda asked Fiyero.

"We have a few. I generally like to do things myself. And like I said, it's not pretty, it's just a castle. But it's much nicer than anything else in the village. We have our own library." Fiyero shrugged.

"I should come visit you sometime. I can spruce the place up!"

Fiyero laughed. "Perhaps."

An hour later, Fiyero and Elphaba headed back towards the apartment. They were passing Briscoe Hall when Fiyero spied Avaric lurking around the bushes and vines that covered the building. He debated not saying anything about it and just continuing to walk.

As they got closer, however, Fiyero noticed a look on Avaric's face that he didn't like (not that there was ever a look on Avaric's face that he did like). Just as they were about to pass him, Fiyero caught sight of something and shoved Elphaba back.

"What the hell?" Elphaba shouted, glaring at him as she stumbled against the building wall.

A moment later Fiyero was soaked with water and Avaric was standing next to him, holding an empty bucket. "What were you doing?" Fiyero grabbed Avaric's collar.

"Seriously, dude, it was just a joke. I thought since she looks like a frog, someone should get her some water."

Elphaba realized what had just happened, then, and her face softened a little. "Fiyero…"

"You jerk! Do you have any idea what you almost did?" Fiyero had Avaric cornered, though he had let go of his collar.

"It was just water!"

"Just water?" Fiyero clenched his fists and turned away. He didn't know if Elphaba would be upset if he mentioned her strange allergy, and he didn't know that it was Avaric's business, anyway. So he just said, "Do you have any idea how cold it is? The two of us having to walk back to our building soaking wet and freezing cold would just be asking for the flu!"

Avaric shook his head. "Sorry. I didn't think you'd be so freaking sensitive, pretty boy." He pushed past Fiyero and ran back into his building.

Fiyero turned to Elphaba, who was staring at him. "I apologize for pushing you…"

She was breathing heavily, but nodded at him. "I think trying to save my life is a good enough excuse for that."


	22. Chapter TwentyOne: Emotional Turmoil

**AN: Reviews, please? Sometimes I feel so disconnected from myself lately (I've had these awful headaches) that I don't know how much my writing works or flows. Please tell me if I'm not doing well. I might need to change my medication, if that's what's causing these headaches...  
**

**Chapter Twenty-One: Emotional Turmoil**

The two walked back to the apartment in silence, staying at least a foot away from each other the whole way. When they returned to the apartment, Elphaba grabbed a towel from the bathroom and tossed it gently to Fiyero. She perched herself on the bed, running her hands along the blanket as he took off his clothes and began to dry off. Part of her felt bad that she couldn't help him, though part of her didn't want to – there was too much she could say here that she didn't want to. Elphaba took a deep breath and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Physically, I'm fine, Elphaba. I'm just angry at Avaric."

She sighed. "He couldn't have known, Fiyero. It was just a joke, as far as he was concerned."

"I realize that, but he could've hurt you."

"It's not like someone stops to think, 'I wonder if the person I'm going to play this joke on is _allergic to water_,'" Elphaba reminded him.

"How badly could he have hurt you, Elphaba? If that entire bucket had hit you?" Fiyero demanded, turning to her and folding his arms across his chest, dressed again.

She looked down at her hands. Elphaba didn't know if she should tell him that it could have killed her. She had implied as much when she had said he had saved her life, but he didn't seem to have noticed that. The intensity in his eyes scared her. He wanted to protect her, and that was a foreign feeling. "I…" Elphaba shrugged.

He raised his eyebrows at her, knowing she had more to say.

"It could've killed me, okay?" She hid her face in her hands for a moment, not wanting him to see that she, too, was a little worked up.

Fiyero climbed onto the bed next to her. "Elphaba, what am I supposed to feel right now?" He looked at her as she took her hands away from her face.

"I don't know. I don't know how I feel. This isn't something that happens to me every day. And I'm trying to be rational here. He didn't mean to hurt anyone, not physically. He intended to humiliate us, but not to really hurt me."

He sighed. "You're right. But it doesn't bother you that you could've been…?"

"It does," Elphaba admitted. "But that doesn't mean I have to act irrationally."

He gave in to his instincts and pulled her into his arms then. Fiyero felt her stiffen a little out of surprise at the sudden embrace, but she relaxed. "Okay, but you have to understand that the fact that you could've been seriously hurt or died might upset me a little."

She flushed. "Fiyero, I'm fine. Stop acting so ridiculous."

"We need to talk about this, Elphaba," he insisted.

"We are talking about it."

"That's not what I meant. For Oz's sake, all you do is push me away! You can't at least accept that I care about you enough that the idea of something happening to you would rattle me a little?"

She didn't want to. Accepting that would force her to think about the fact that if something similar had happened to _him_, she wouldn't deal with it rationally, either. The idea of him getting hurt bothered her, too, though she hadn't thought about it until they had walked back to the apartment. What was wrong with her? This entire relationship was driving her crazy. Elphaba rested her head against his chest, "I guess. But I wish you'd calm down."

"Let me sit here for a moment and I will, okay?" He leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

Elphaba sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. She felt her lips sneaking into a smile and she let them for a brief second. "Well, you did save my life…"

"Yup. I guess that makes me a hero!" Fiyero laughed.

"Yero my hero," Elphaba murmured.

"I like it."

"It's silly," Elphaba turned crimson again.

"Not when I hear it from your lips," Fiyero kissed her. He took a deep breath. "Elphaba, can I ask you something?"

"Um, okay."

"I know we're not at the same place emotionally. Are you okay where we are physically? Does it feel like it's too much?"

Elphaba shook her head. "It feels fine, Fiyero. First of all, we're supposed to be doing it. I think we need to take advantage of the parts of our relationship where we do feel comfortable, and that's one of them. We should act like a married couple in at least that way." She didn't want to add that she liked making love with him.

Fiyero nodded.

"Are you uncomfortable?" Elphaba questioned. Why else would he be asking?

"No. I just didn't want you to be. You don't like to look at me when we're intimate and I just wondered if that meant that maybe you were uneasy."

He had caught her. Again. Did he have to notice every little thing she did that resisted him? She played with her hair anxiously. "Fiyero, I'm trying."

He sighed. "I know you are."

She reached up and kissed him softly. "I do care about you. I asked you to give me time."

"I am. I just wanted to know, that's all."

"We're fine. If I didn't want to, Fiyero, believe me, I would tell you."

"You probably would, knowing you."

She slid herself off the bed. "The day is still young. There is time to study."

"I'm never going to struggle through classes with you around. Speaking of classes, what did you sign up for next term?"

"Advanced life sciences. And advanced sorcery. Then some general classes. I'm also going to be Dr. Dillamond's lab assistant. Why?"

"I was just wondering. I'm taking advanced life sciences, too. It sounds like you have a lot on your plate."

"I can handle it," she said defensively, grabbing her books and wandering into the living room.

"I never said you couldn't. It was just an observation." Fiyero grabbed his life sciences notebook and sat beside her on the couch. "Can you go over that last lecture with me?"

The next morning, Elphaba had to wake Fiyero up because he slept later than usual. He woke feeling weak and out of breath. "Elphaba, I don't feel so well."

She was already dressed and out of bed, and climbed back up on the bed to get a better look at him. "I guess Avaric really did hurt one of us by throwing that water. I thought you might catch something." There was no denying that he was ill. His face was flushed, he was sweaty, and from the sound of his voice, he was seriously congested. But she didn't know what to do. As his wife, it was her duty to stay home and care for him. But they weren't exactly conventional.

"Damn him," Fiyero muttered. "I'm going to give him hell for this when I feel up to it."

"Clearly you can't go to class." She didn't like seeing him sick. Elphaba associated Fiyero's body with strength and he looked anything but the strong young man she saw him as. "Do you want me to stay?" Elphaba wasn't sure what kind of answer she wanted from him.

He looked up at her, searching her eyes, trying to decide what to say. Fiyero wanted her there, but he didn't want to force her to stay. He turned away from her for a moment, coughing heavily.

"That's all the answer I need." Elphaba sighed. "Galinda, though you might not expect it, takes pretty good notes in life sciences, and I know Dr. Dillamond would go over what we miss today with me another time. I'm staying here with you."

Fiyero smiled, glad he hadn't had to ask her to stay. "You don't have to…"

"I'm your wife, Fiyero. Of course I do." Elphaba folded her arms across her chest. "This is not a discussion. Now, sit up and I'll make you something to eat." She instantly went into maternal mode, as she had so many times at home when Nessa had fallen ill. "I'll put my gloves on and get you a cold towel for your forehead." She wiped the sweat from his forehead and kissed it. "You do feel very warm."

"I can get out of bed, Elphaba," Fiyero insisted.

"Maybe you can. But you won't. You need to rest, not stress yourself." Elphaba grabbed her gloves and went into the bathroom, running cold water onto a towel for him carefully, holding it at arm's length when she handed it to him. "Now, I'll be back in a few minutes." She walked out of the room.

Fiyero stared after her, surprised at her sudden gentleness and need to care for him. He pulled the pillows behind him so he could sit up and put the towel on his forehead. He heard her clattering about the kitchen and he grinned to himself. Part of him wanted to get out of bed and help her, but he didn't think she'd react well to that.

Several minutes later, she re-entered the room with a bowl of oatmeal and some orange juice. She placed the orange juice on his bedside table and handed him the bowl. Then she climbed onto the bed next to him, touching his cheek gently. "Are you nauseous or can you eat?"

"I can eat." Fiyero began to spoon the oatmeal into his mouth. His throat felt a little swollen, so he had a sip of orange juice, enjoying the cold rushing down his throat.

"Good. How does your head feel?"

"Fuzzy."

She nodded sympathetically. "You think you're up to reading?"

He shook his head.

"Well, then there isn't much you can do just sitting around here."

"You could talk to me."

Elphaba laughed. "Oh? About what?"

"Let's start with your family. You said they didn't want to hear from them and they didn't want to hear from you, but from the small tidbit of conversation you had with Boq, I think you weren't completely truthful about that."

She didn't have the will to argue, and he didn't have the energy and she knew that. "Just my sister."

"Would you like to see her?"

"I don't see how. My father was more than glad to be rid of me. I'll have to go back out there occasionally as Eminent Thropp, but at the moment, he sees no reason for me to come back."

Fiyero frowned. "Is that why he arranged our marriage?"

"They didn't think I'd be marriageable. That's why they wrote a letter to your parents, neglecting to mention that I was green. Their proposition was that the East and West would be powerful together. That wasn't the real reason." Elphaba shrugged.

"Your mother didn't care much for you, either?"

"My mother didn't much care for any of us. She was too busy chewing milkflowers and having affairs."

Fiyero shook his head. "I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't be," Elphaba waved it away.

"You miss your sister, though?"

"Somewhat. She loved me. I'm not sure if she loved me out of need or that I was always there to care for her. But Nessa is a good girl, and I don't know how she's getting on without me."

"Would you like to see if we can have her visit us at Kiamo Ko sometime?"

"I would like that very much, thank you." Elphaba looked at him. Why did he have to be so sweet to her? She wanted to be good to him, too. All he wanted was for her to love him, and she kept stopping herself. It just felt too soon for her, although she was struggling more and more to keep herself from just admitting that maybe she was capable of love, and that maybe she was starting to really love him. She wanted to hate him for causing so much emotional turmoil, but it wasn't his fault. Elphaba kissed Fiyero's cheek softly and looked into his eyes. She figured that told him what he needed to know for now.


	23. Chapter TwentyTwo: A Major Discovery

**AN: Okay, so, I'm starting to wonder if the way this site works now is that everyone just alerts/favorites instead of reviewing. I just want to know if this is working. Sometimes I feel so out of it lately. I just want to make sure it flows. Anyway, I'm going to write a little note at the end.  
**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: A Major Discovery**

Fiyero and Elphaba returned to Kiamo Ko for the winter holidays, as well, and they were soon back at Shiz for their second term. Elphaba was relatively busy with classes and assisting Dr. Dillamond in the lab, but Fiyero didn't mind because she seemed happier when she had more to do. She spent hours in Dr. Dillamond's lab, working hard to discover the link between humans and Animals.

Elphaba entered the lab, head down, breathing heavily. "I'm sorry I'm late, Dr. Dillamond, Fiyero accidentally took my notebook this morning and I had to catch up with him and get it back."

"No worries, Miss Elphaba. You are usually on time, in fact, you're usually early, so I knew that if you were not here there was a good reason. You do seem out of breath. I hope you didn't have to run all the way across campus to catch Master Fiyero."

"He was over in the math building, so yes, I basically had to run across campus." Elphaba put her bag down and got out her notebook. "Fiyero hadn't even noticed he'd had the wrong notebook all morning. Sometimes he's so clueless."

"He seems like a bright young man to me," Dr. Dillamond observed as Elphaba joined him at the table with a beaker. He thought for a moment and then decided to go ahead and ask, "How long have you been married?"

"Since just before we started at Shiz. It was, um, arranged by our parents."

"I see. Well, you two seem to suit each other pretty well."

"Thanks," Elphaba replied, looking through a magnifying glass at the liquid in the beaker. "What did you mix this with?"

"Ground milkflower," Dr. Dillamond replied, realizing Elphaba wanted to change the subject. He was frankly surprised that she was willing to tell him as much as she had. He worried about Elphaba at times, and hoped she at least talked to someone.

When Elphaba got home that evening, Fiyero had already made dinner. "You stayed late tonight."

"We had a breakthrough," Elphaba said, a little excited. "I think we're getting closer to making a major discovery."

"That's great."

"I want to go early tomorrow. I might leave before you wake up…"

"Actually, Boq and I were going to study for literature class tomorrow morning over at Briscoe Hall. It's right past the sciences building. We can walk together."

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "Really? It's Saturday tomorrow."

"That's the only time Boq can meet. He has errands to run or something."

The next morning, Fiyero walked Elphaba to the sciences building. He insisted on going inside with her, concerned because the building was so dark, though she tried to wave him away. "Are you sure he's here this early? I don't see a single glimmer of light."

"He's always here this early." Elphaba tried the door and the knob turned. She opened the door slowly. "Dr. Dillamond?" She flipped on the light. "Oh my Oz!"

Fiyero saw it at the same time she did and bit back a shout. After a moment, he turned to Elphaba, whose face was practically shattered. Both hands on her shoulders, he looked at her, "Elphaba…"

She was shaking her head. "No, no… blood…that's not… no…"

"Elphaba, calm down."

"He's… he's dead, Fiyero!" Elphaba was breathing rapidly, panicking, knees shaking.

"We need to report it to someone."

Elphaba shook herself back into sanity for a brief moment. "No, not yet. Hold on. I can't let this get lost," she said quietly, grabbing some of the papers lying on the desk. "He wouldn't want…" She sank to the ground.

"Elphaba!" Fiyero caught her in his arms. "We need to get out of here, love." He sat her down in the hallway, taking the papers from her and putting them in her bag. "I hate to say this, but we need to get Morrible. If we stay here much longer, someone might wonder…"

She nodded weakly. "Wait! Do you hear that?"

Fiyero stood still for a moment. "It sounds like a very loud clock."

Elphaba's eyes widened and she lowered her voice. "Morrible has this little tick-tock toy that walks around with her and does chores."

Fiyero raised his eyebrows. "More of a reason we need to get out of here. If it knows we've been here, so will Morrible. Can it understand us?"

"No."

"That's good at least. And I don't think it saw you take the papers. But Morrible is going to wonder if we don't go straight to her at this point."

Elphaba took his hand and stood up, face still pale. "Let's go. Her office is in the magic building."

Fiyero held her hand as they walked, squeezing it occasionally to comfort her. Neither of them spoke – Elphaba was too shocked and Fiyero was waiting for her to say something. He noticed a tear sneak its way down Elphaba's face, but still said nothing.

They arrived at Morrible's office and Elphaba felt Fiyero drop her hand. He knew she didn't want him holding her hand in front of Morrible. Morrible knew they were married, but Elphaba didn't care. She knocked on Morrible's door.

The door swung open a moment later. "Miss Elphaba? I certainly didn't expect to see any students this early…"

"Dr. Dillamond is dead," Elphaba stammered.

"What?"

"We were walking over there – Elphaba is his lab assistant – and when we arrived, we found Dr. Dillamond… there was a lot of blood, Madame." Fiyero said.

"Oh dears! I best be getting over there immediately to investigate this before any other students have to see such a distressing sight. Do you need to speak to a nurse in the infirmary? It must have been awful."

"We're fine," Elphaba lied. "I think I need to get back to the apartment to lie down. I'm just a little shocked."

Morrible nodded. "Please, go rest. I'm so sorry! I need to get a handle on the situation as you can imagine." The old woman walked at a stern pace down the hallway and out of the building. Elphaba and Fiyero followed solemnly, heading back to the apartment.

Elphaba collapsed onto the couch the minute she got inside. "Oh my Oz, I can't believe this is happening."

Fiyero sat beside her and put am arm around her comfortingly. "I know. I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"I… I don't think so. What about you?"

"A little sickened and shocked, but I wasn't close to him the way you were. Thank Oz I went with you."

She felt tears well up in her eyes and she swallowed hard. He must've seen her eyes, for he drew her to him. Elphaba wiped helplessly at her face. "I'm glad you were there, too."

Fiyero stared into her eyes, seeing more vulnerability there than he ever had before, even on their wedding night. "Fae..."

"What did you say?" Elphaba murmured softly.

"Fae. I'm sorry. I thought it sounded nice…"

"It did," she said. "I like it, Yero my hero."

She hadn't called him that since she'd accidentally come up with it. Clearly she wasn't herself right now. He squeezed her knee. "What do you want to do?"

Elphaba was silent for a few minutes. "I want to continue his research," she decided.

"I think he'd have been happy to hear that," Fiyero said encouragingly.

"I'm going to need a little help," she thought aloud, "because I won't have the tools we did in his lab, and I won't have any of the books I need, and the Crage library is disappointing at best."

"I'll help get you what you need," Fiyero promised.

She smiled softly at him. "You don't have to."

"I do."

She didn't bother to ask why. Instead, she sat staring at him, grateful for his presence beside her. Elphaba felt herself lean into him. She felt so helpless. "It's not even afternoon yet and today already feels like it has been too long."

"Are you tired?"

"Mentally. Not physically, though," she shrugged. "I don't think I could sleep if I wanted to, anyway. I can't get that image out of my head. And I know I should be thinking about how to continue his research and what the next step should be, but my mind can't get past that picture." Elphaba couldn't seem to think straight.

"I can't get past it, either," Fiyero admitted. "I've seen a lot out in the Vinkus; I was there when my grandfather passed, when my mother found my sister in her crib only days after she was born, but I've never seen something like that."

"I know he said that what he was doing was dangerous, but I didn't really think it would get him killed. He said it himself, but I guess I just didn't believe it could really happen." Elphaba's face got red. "How can anyone be so cruel?" She clenched her fists, feeling anger well up. "He didn't deserve that, just because he wanted life to be fair for him and others like him!"

"I know, Elphaba."

Elphaba stood up. "I've got to make this right."

Fiyero bit his lip. "How?"

"I… I don't know." She paused and sat back down.

"I think you need to do what you said – continue his research. Right now that's all you can do. You said you were close to a breakthrough, right? You're smart enough to figure it out. Start with that." He could tell she was no longer weak; now she had moved on to anger. This sudden change in mood concerned him, so he strove to calm her down. "Remember, he told you this might happen, and he told you not to make a big deal out of it, at least not in public."

"He did," she acknowledged, "and you're right."

"Now," Fiyero began, "let's talk about what you're going to need to do this research."

**AN: So, I wanted to write this scene, but not make it similar to the one I wrote in my most recent story. I thought her discovering his body WITH Fiyero would be an interesting way to write it. And having to report it to Morrible. I thought this might add an interesting dynamic. Besides, aside from being married, I really haven't given them much drama until the past few chapters. I'll back off on the drama after this (for a little while) just to take a look at them moving along. I feel like after this, sharing this experience, and being so vulnerable in front of him, Elphaba might be closer to coming to terms with her feelings for Fiyero. We'll see.**


	24. Chapter TwentyThree: In It Together

**AN: Thank you for the overwhelming reviews! I love you all. This is a little slow because I sort of have a job (at least temporarily – 2 weeks). I actually don't do a lot but I don't exactly feel right writing this stuff during work. Also, I've had so much favoriting lately. I want to work on some of my other stuff, but I'm trying to do this one at a time. I do feel very stuck and very out of it, still. But I'm working on it. I promise.**

**Chapter Twenty-Three: In It Together**

Morrible announced later that day that Dr. Dillamond died due to an "unfortunate lab accident." She added that his students should not worry, for she would find a replacement to take over for the rest of the term immediately. After that, she approached Elphaba, who had only come out of the apartment to see what kind of spectacle Morrible would make. "Miss Elphaba, I believe Fiyero said you were his lab assistant, correct?"

Fiyero was sitting on a bench a few feet away, giving Elphaba her space. Elphaba looked to him, turned back to Morrible, and nodded. "I was, yes."

"I understand that some of the research Dr. Dillamond was doing was very sensitive. If you should have any of his work, I would love for you to give it to the school so that we can find a new scientist to… continue his research."

Elphaba bit the inside of her cheek. "Everything we had we kept in the lab."

"I will be sure to send someone to sort through his things. Again, Miss Elphaba, I'm sorry that you had to see such a terrible thing."

Elphaba nodded. "I will be fine." She left Morrible and walked over to Fiyero. Quietly, she said to him, "A lab accident? Really? That's not what it looked like to me."

He nodded and replied softly, "I'm surprised she didn't try to talk to you about what you saw and convince you it was an accident."

"I think she was waiting to see how I would react when she announced it." The two of them began walking back towards the apartment.

"Elphie!" Galinda came running towards them. "Elphie, I heard… I heard you found him. It must've been horrible."

"Fiyero and I found him, yes," Elphaba said calmly.

"That's terrible! Oh, Elphie, I'm sorry." Galinda grabbed Elphaba and tried to hug her.

Elphaba stiffened and clenched her jaw, looking at Fiyero uncomfortably.

"Um, Galinda, we'll be okay," Fiyero assured her.

She let go of Elphaba. "If you say so. He was a nice old goat. He always mispronounced my name – he always forgot the 'a'. It was always Glinda. You know what? To honor his memory, I think I'll go by that from now on. I am not Galinda anymore, Elphie. I'm Glinda!"

Elphaba raised her eyebrows and gave Fiyero a look. "Um, okay."

Fiyero rolled his eyes when Glinda wasn't looking. "That's very kind, Glinda."

"If you ever need to talk about it, Elphie, I'm here. You know where my room is. I have to go, I promised I'd meet Pfanee and Shen-Shen at the café. You take care of her, Fiyero!"

"I will," Fiyero replied as Glinda walked away, "except she doesn't need taking care of," he added when she was out of earshot.

"You are correct; I do not." Elphaba smiled. "But I do enjoy your company." She kissed him on the cheek. "You are a good man, Fiyero."

"What did I do to deserve that?" He laughed.

"You were you. I appreciate everything you've done for me, especially today." Elphaba looked at her hands, blushing. Today he'd been so kind to her, and she didn't exactly know how to respond to it other than to just thank him.

Fiyero smiled. "I didn't do much, Elphaba. But thank you. Should we go home?"

Elphaba nodded, face still flushed.

When the new professor was introduced, Elphaba didn't even need to hear him speak to know she wouldn't like him. He didn't have a chance getting on her good side after what had happened to Dr. Dillamond, anyway, but the way he stood in the classroom told her everything she needed to know. She spent her time reading the chapter in the book that he was discussing instead of listening to him talk – unless something particularly upsetting caught her ear.

"So you see, these Animals are particularly less intelligent than humans."

"Excuse me, Dr. Nikidik," Elphaba interrupted, "how can you prove that?"

"It's a commonly known fact, _Miss_ Elphaba," Dr. Nikidik responded. "And I don't appreciate being interrupted. If you want to say something or ask a question, I suggest you raise your hand."

Elphaba turned red in the face, but went back to reading her book. "I can tell Horrible Morrible hired him," she muttered, "he's just as ignorant as she is."

Fiyero sighed. "I know. But remember what Dillamond said about not making a big deal out of this." He eyed their professor as he whispered to her.

She nodded, not looking up at him.

He wanted to pat her shoulder gently or squeeze her hand, but he knew she'd kill him if he did it in the middle of class, no matter how subtly. Instead he went back to his notes.

After classes, of course, Elphaba was raging. The group walked to lunch and Elphaba argued with Boq. "Our professor is a complete idiot."

"I'm not sure about that. But even if he was, Elphaba, you shouldn't disrespect him the way you did today," Boq replied.

"When he's pushing his anti-Animal agenda on a bunch of innocent students who don't know any better, I'm going to speak up!" Elphaba snapped.

"Do you want to get yourself kicked out of his class? Cause trouble?"

Elphaba exchanged glances with Fiyero. "Not necessarily. But I can't just sit by and watch."

Boq shook his head. "If you say so."

Glinda looked at Elphaba. "That was a little… rude. Don't get me wrong, Elphie, I can understand why he upset you, but he is still an adult. If he really wanted to, he could turn you in to Morrible."

"She has a point," Fiyero said softly.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Next time I'll just shut up and complain after class." Elphaba grumbled.

"You're already complaining after class," Boq pointed out.

"Shut up."

Boq pulled Fiyero aside later. "What is she so worked up about?"

"I think she just misses Dr. Dillamond, that's all. And Dr. Nikidik is obviously quite a bit different than him. You know she and I were the ones who found him, right?"

"I didn't. I'm sorry. I guess I can understand. I don't know why she gets so worked up about the Animals, though. It's probably true, what Nikidik said. And besides, it doesn't affect her."

Fiyero sighed. This was the sort of thinking that Elphaba hated, and he understood why. But he realized that Boq didn't know any better, so he just shrugged. If Elphaba wanted to rant at him about it some other time, she could. He didn't feel like preaching at the moment, though he did find it a little frustrating. He could see now why Dr. Nikidik's teachings upset Elphaba so much. There were students who believed what he said without question.

When they got back to the apartment later that afternoon, Fiyero sat beside Elphaba on the couch as she was reading. "I think I'm starting to understand the way you feel about this whole Animals thing."

She looked up at him. "Really?"

"Dr. Nikidik was wrong in the way he's trying to teach us, especially since, as you said, it's not proven fact. I thought no one would believe him, anyway, but I realized that not everyone gives it the thought that you do. And students who didn't have Dr. Dillamond before or didn't pay attention to him don't even have the benefit of getting the other side of the story."

Elphaba was impressed. She hadn't asked him to care about the same things she did. She hadn't even wanted him to, not if he was just doing it for her. But he came to his own decision, and it paralleled hers. "Exactly."

"I wish I'd listened to Dr. Dillamond more."

She smiled at him. "Don't worry, I took good notes."

"I'd like to help you with the research. I know I'm not as up to speed on it as you are, and I don't have quite the passion you do, but I want to help. If you don't mind."

Part of her wanted to separate her research from her life with him. There were things she wanted to keep to herself, but this was something she couldn't do completely alone. And he genuinely wanted to. "I don't mind."

Fiyero smiled at her and kissed her forehead.

"But you have to promise to let me do my own thing when I need to, okay?"

"Of course."

Elphaba kissed Fiyero deeply. "You know what? I'm glad I married you."


	25. Chapter TwentyFour: Surprises

**AN: This one was written really easily and really quickly. I don't know why.**

**Chapter Twenty-Four: Surprises**

Despite her grievances with Dr. Nikidik, Elphaba still managed to hold the highest grade in life sciences by the time they returned to the Vinkus for the spring holidays. Of course, that didn't keep her from spending the entire trip to the Vinkus reading over her books trying to find new details about Animal biology. Fiyero sat beside her in silence with a book or two of his own, attempting to help. Elphaba only finally put her books down the moment they arrived at the castle doors.

"Elphaba," Fiyero said as they waited for the doors to open, "I…"

He didn't get the chance to finish because the doors swung open and there, sitting in the entryway awaiting them, was Nessa. Fiyero didn't need to finish what he was about to say. Elphaba rushed over to her sister and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Nessie! It's so good to see you." She looked over at Fiyero. "You did this?"

He nodded.

She smiled at him. "Thank you."

"Fabala, I have missed you so much!" Nessa exclaimed happily.

"I have missed you, too." Elphaba began pushing Nessa's chair into the living room. Fiyero followed.

"There is so much news to tell you! I don't even know where to begin."

Fiyero's mother walked into the living room. "Welcome home."

"Thanks, Mom." Fiyero sat down besides Elphaba on a couch across from Nessarose.

"Elphaba, your sister has only been here for an hour or two before you arrived, but I can already tell what a lovely young lady she is."

Nessa flushed. "Oh, that's so nice of you to say."

"I'll leave you all to catch up. I just wanted to stop in and say 'hello,'" Fiyero's mother said and left the room.

"Your parents are very kind and hospitable, Fiyero," Nessa acknowledged him for the first time since they'd arrived. "Thank you so much for having me out here."

"I know Elphaba has been thinking about you and I thought that it would be good for you to see each other." Fiyero shrugged.

"Oh, we'll be seeing each other a bit more come fall, I hope!" Nessa smiled.

"What are you talking about?" Elphaba demanded.

"Father scraped together enough money to send me to Shiz. Nanny will be there to chaperone me and care for me, of course."

Elphaba's face neither fell nor lit up. On one hand, she was overjoyed that her sister would be at Shiz the coming year so that she could spend more time with her. But at the same time, Frex never would have even tried to send her to Shiz. It was only a lucky fluke that Fiyero's parents had been willing to pay for her schooling. "That's… wonderful, Nessie."

Fiyero noticed that Elphaba hadn't quite reacted the way he'd thought she would and made a note to ask her later. "You will have to meet our friends and come have dinner in our apartment sometime, then!"

"I would love that." Nessa turned to Elphaba. "I have wanted to see what your new life has been like. You seem happy."

"I do?" Elphaba seemed surprised.

Nessa laughed. "You do, Fabala."

Fiyero looked down at his lap to hide a smile.

Elphaba turned crimson. "I guess I am. I enjoy school very much."

Nessa eyed Fiyero, and then bit her tongue, clearly wanting to say something more to that. "You must tell me all about Shiz."

Fiyero realized the two sisters might want to talk without him, and he wasn't exactly part of the conversation in the first place. He stood up. "Why don't you two keep chatting and I'll go see how my brothers are doing?"

Elphaba nodded. "That'd be fine."

Nessa looked at her sister as Fiyero left the room. "He seems like a very good husband."

"I guess."

"Is he kind to you?"

"Very."

"Father would be pleased to hear that."

"Father could care less," Elphaba replied. "If he cared at all, he would've written and asked about it. He didn't."

Nessa sighed, but didn't argue. "On that note, I'm so sorry I haven't been able to send you any letters. It's just been so hectic at home and Nanny hasn't had time to take any dictation for me. I have meant to. I even had letters written in my head for you."

"I know, Nessie. It's not your fault. I know you and I know you would write to me if you could." Elphaba put her hand on her sister's knee.

"Shell has gotten so much taller since you've been gone."

"I'll bet he has."

"He's a lot of trouble, though. He's always getting into things and running off."

Elphaba laughed. "I'm not surprised."

That evening, Fiyero, Elphaba and Nessa sat around the fireplace following their dinner. Nessa was propped up in a lazy chair and Fiyero and Elphaba were situated on a couch. "Fabala, when do you intend to have children?" Nessa asked suddenly.

Fiyero raised his eyebrows.

Elphaba folded her arms across her chest. "I'd like to put that off as long as possible."

"But now that you're married, isn't it expected?"

"Nessie, do I ever do what's expected of me?"

"Well, you did get married, as Father expected you to," Nessa pointed out.

"Elphaba and I have agreed to wait until we are done with school," Fiyero said, hoping to stop an argument. "We'll come back to the subject then."

"Well, Father would expect…"

Elphaba clenched her jaw. "Father doesn't care. It's not his business. He's already decided enough of my life. And he clearly doesn't want to be involved in the rest of it anyway."

Fiyero slid an arm around Elphaba. "Fae…" He merely gave her a look.

She sighed and turned back to her sister. "I don't mean to be rude, Nessa. I just always felt that Father didn't quite care about me. The minute I was old enough to understand anything, I was told I was to be married off whether I wanted to or not. And he made it clear enough that he'd be more than happy to be rid of me. I know he loves you very much, Nessie."

Nessa nodded. "I understand, Fabala. I do think he made a good decision for you in having you marry Fiyero, whether or not he had the best of intentions."

"What do you mean he made a good decision for me? It should've been my decision!"

"You would've chosen never to marry."

"And that would've been my decision."

"But the only thing I hear you complaining about here is that Father made the decision for you, not that you are married."

"What's there to complain about?" Fiyero asked.

"I wasn't saying there was anything to complain about. But I know my sister."

"What's that supposed to mean, Nessa?" Elphaba demanded.

"It means that you don't hate being married as much as you'd have me think you do."

Elphaba pursed her lips, but couldn't argue. "It's not as bad as I thought," she conceded.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Fiyero joked.

"But I have missed you, Nessa."

"Oh! That reminds me, Nanny sends her regards. I think she really misses you. Not that she'd say that outright, but I think she does."

"Tell her I send my regards, as well."

Later that night, Elphaba was lying beside Fiyero, thinking. After a moment, she said, "It was really sweet of you to arrange for Nessa to visit."

He turned to her and cupped her chin. "I told you I would."

"I know, but you didn't tell me _when_."

"I wanted to surprise you."

"I usually don't like surprises, but this one was different."

"Speaking of surprises, you didn't seem to be too happy about Nessa's little surprise."

"What?"

"Her going to Shiz."

"Fiyero, I am happy. I'm happy for her. I'm happy I'll get to see her. But… if my father had been willing to do that for me…"

"You wouldn't have been stuck marrying me?"

"Oh, Fiyero, I didn't mean that. I love you."

He looked taken aback. She hadn't said those words in months. "You do?"

She nodded. "I do."

"Really?"

"Yes," she laughed.

"Are you sure you're not just saying it right now and…?"

"I am. But if you keep pestering me about it, I might feel differently," she teased. "I do love you, okay?"

"I love you, too. You know that. I just didn't want you to be uncomfortable, so I haven't said it."

Elphaba curled herself against him and smiled to herself. She couldn't help it anymore. He loved her. And she loved him. There was no way she could continue to deny that. Despite how much she disliked feeling vulnerable, she liked feeling loved more.


	26. Chapter TwentyFive: Family History

**AN: I had an inner ear infection that was making it basically impossible for me to read or play games or do anything. But I had no idea what was wrong until yesterday, so I apologize for the wait. Also, this chapter was a little slow in moving along. I spent a lot of time rereading **_**Wicked**_** today and envying Gregory Maguire's writing ability. And also trying to figure out what to do next. I think the next thing will be a little more Glinda and her change. I've never been good at writing that part, nor have I tried to focus on it. But I think her changing and becoming more of a **_**real**_** friend to Elphaba would be good for this story.**

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Family History**

Kiamo Ko and the surrounding areas were particularly interesting to Nessa because there was little in the way of religion. In fact, in the Vinkus it seemed as if people were not spiritual in any way. She spent plenty of time arguing with Fiyero, who tried to be polite but was just not at all interested in unionism. Elphaba tried (with little success) to bite her tongue in regards to Nessa's staunch religious attitudes.

"But you have no religion at _all_?" Nessa pressed.

"No, we don't. There's a holiday sometime around Lurlinemas where we give gifts, but it's really just to celebrate and have fun, not for any religious reason."

Nessa looked over at Elphaba. "Clearly Father didn't know this when he arranged for you to marry him."

Fiyero wasn't sure if he should be offended. "I don't see her complaining."

"No, as a matter of fact, I'm overjoyed," Elphaba laughed. "And Nessa, you know Father didn't care whether or not they were religious out here so long as he could be rid of me."

Nessa sighed. "Elphaba, why must you be so resistant to the love of the Unnamed God?"

"Here in the Vinkus, we value the love of the people near and dear to us more than the love of some being that may or may not exist." Fiyero rested a hand on Elphaba's knee.

"That makes more sense, at least." Elphaba replied.

Nessa looked back and forth from Elphaba to Fiyero and raised her eyebrows. She'd given them this look multiple times during her visit and Elphaba still had no clue what it meant.

"But really, this isn't the thing to argue about on the last evening of Nessa's visit," Fiyero said gently.

Nessa looked ready to argue, but caught herself. "Fiyero, your family has been very kind. I know that having me as a guest can be a bit of a burden…"

"Nonsense," Fiyero replied, "you are a wonderful houseguest. You are more polite than any guest we've ever had, I believe!"

Nessa flushed. "Thank you. The Unnamed God says to be grateful for every kind gesture."

"Well, the Unnamed God has a good idea there."

Elphaba smiled as she watched Fiyero interact with her sister. Discussing religion with Nessa was certainly not easy, but he was handling it well. She hated what Nessa preached, but loved her dearly all the same. As their visit wound down to a close, Elphaba was both relieved and disappointed to see her go. "I won't see you again until fall, then."

"I don't see why you don't come to Nest Hardings for a holiday or two."

Elphaba sighed. "Nessa, Father doesn't want Fiyero and me out there. And I think you know that."

Nessa lowered her eyes and nodded. "Well, maybe one day…"

"Maybe," Elphaba said gently.

They stood in the entry hall, a servant holding Nessa's bags and ready to load them into the carriage that awaited her outside. Elphaba kissed her sister's cheek and let her sister kiss hers.

"It was nice to actually spend time with you, Nessa. We barely got to see each other at the wedding. I see now why Elphaba adores her sister so much." Fiyero smiled at Nessa.

"Oh, you are too kind! I am so glad Fabala married someone as kind as you." Nessa waved as one of the servants pushed her chair out the doors.

After Nessa left, it was time for the couple to depart on their own journey back to Shiz. They climbed into their own carriage and prepared themselves for a long trip.

"You did wonderfully with my sister, Fiyero." Elphaba smiled at him once they had settled in and the carriage had achieved its usual rhythm.

"It was nothing. She's a sweet girl."

"I know she is, but the constant badgering about faith can be a little trying."

"She means well."

"She does. Still, it was good of you to be so kind to her."

"I'm not in the habit of being rude to my houseguests," Fiyero laughed.

"Have I told you how much I appreciate that you brought her out to see us?"

"Plenty." Fiyero grabbed Elphaba's hand. "I wanted you to be happy."

Elphaba shuddered at the sweetness in his voice and the way it made her feel. She did love him. And that was scary. Yes, it was wonderful and it made things so much easier. But it made her so vulnerable that it made her uncomfortable. She lowered her eyes for a moment, looked back up and smiled at him. "Thank you."

He kissed her gently on the lips. "You are welcome. I will admit that I was quite curious to see how you and your sister interacted and to see what kind of stories she might tell."

Elphaba laughed. "I see you had other motivations than just making me happy."

"Well, that was my main motivation."

"I know."

Fiyero wrapped her in his arms and she squirmed a bit. "What?"

"It's hot in here and that is not helping!"

He laughed and released her from his grip. "It does get hot early in the Vinkus, doesn't it? I'm just used to it, I guess. Besides, the castle is well ventilated."

"We usually had another month or so in Munchkinland before it warmed up like this. Although Quadling Country was pretty excruciating."

Fiyero nodded. "Well, we've plenty of water and the hotel will be a relief tonight, I'm sure."

"Yes, I'm sure. Sweat stings terribly." Elphaba wiped at her forehead.

"Oh! I wasn't thinking! Is there something I can do to help?"

"It's fine, Fiyero. I'm used to it. After years in Quadling Country."

"How could your father have dragged you out there – and your sister – with your condition?"

"Because my father believed that what he was doing was for the greater good. No matter that his Quadling 'congregation' ended up getting basically slaughtered by the Gale Force."

"It seems like he cared more about his congregation than his family."

"Perhaps."

Fiyero clenched his fist for a brief moment. If he ever met Elphaba's father again, he'd have some words for him. "And it doesn't bother you?"

"Not anymore. Why should it? My father wasn't exactly right in the head, anyway. When I was very young, he was a little more stable, but I don't think he even considered Nessarose, Shell or I when he decided to go on a mission to Quadling Country."

Fiyero shook his head. "Still…"

"Oh, stop with the pity, Fiyero. I resent my father, I do, but I'm not going to dwell over it. And he never did anything to _you_, so you don't have anything to be angry about."

"He did do something that severely affected me, although it wasn't a bad thing. He did come up with the idea to have us marry."

"I think it was my mother. She was always a little more manipulative, no matter how many pinlobble leaves she'd been chewing. My father didn't argue, of course. And, like you said, it didn't turn out too badly."

That night in the hotel, where the air was cool and the rooms were well insulated, Fiyero held Elphaba close. She was sweating, but not from the temperature. He kissed the sweat off her forehead softly and smiled at her. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

He wiped the sweat from his own forehead. "I hope it is cool enough in here for you."

"Mmm, it is." She stretched, kicking the blanket down. "But that quilt is much too hot."

"Does that mean…?"

"No, I am not sleeping completely bare, Fiyero!" She smacked him with a pillow and got up. "I'll put on a light nightdress."

Fiyero looked disappointed. "How light?"

"You can't see through it, if that's what you're asking. What has gotten in to you?"

"I just like to look at you."

"And I let you. But I feel so… unprotected… that's not the right word, but I don't know what is. I don't want to spend the whole night that way, not while I'm sleeping."

Fiyero raised his eyebrows, but did not fight her. "Whatever makes you comfortable, Fae."

She softened at the nickname and fought the impulse to give in and forget the nightgown. She rifled through her bag until she found it. It had a hole in it, but only on the shoulder.

"You need some new nightclothes."

"You need to stop telling me what I need. First it was books, now this?"

"The books were months ago!"

"And they were more than enough! Fiyero, you are too kind and I love you for it, but I don't need it. I can get what I need myself." She put the nightgown on and climbed back onto the bed.

Fiyero bit his lip and considered for a moment trying to "distract" her and attempt to "accidentally" rip another hole into the nightgown so that she might change her mind, but she'd never fall for it. Instead he rubbed his hand on her bare shoulder and kissed the supple, soft flesh. "Must you always fight me trying to help you?"

"Only when it's help I don't need," she replied.

"You didn't _need_ me to bring your sister to Kiamo Ko."

"That wasn't help. That was… a gift. A wonderful one."

"_You're_ wonderful."

Elphaba buried her face in her pillow. It didn't matter how much she loved him; receiving kindness and compliments had never been her strong suit.


	27. Chapter TwentySix: Pensive

**AN: I'm sorry this took so long. I've been reading a lot, and not quite writing. Let me tell you, reading George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series is making me self conscious. And I'm not focused. I don't know how much I'll be writing. This story feels stuck. I think about it nightly before bed. I need some fresh ideas and they haven't come to me. I'm working on it, I promise. It might be time to work on one of the other stories and give this one a break, but I'm not sure. We shall see. I promise to update as soon as I can.**

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Pensive**

Upon arrival at Shiz, Elphaba noticed Glinda sitting by Suicide Canal looking pensive (an expression she had rarely seen on the girl). She brought her bags to the apartment and went to join Glinda – more out of curiosity than anything else. Elphaba sat herself down next to the blonde, legs folded beneath her. "You don't seem to be your usual bubbly self, Glinda."

"I'm just thinking, that's all."

Elphaba noticed that there wasn't nearly as much make-up on Glinda's face as there usually was. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine. My Ama is ill, has been ever since Dr. Dillamond died. I think…" Glinda trailed off.

"What, Glinda?"

She shook her head. "Nothing." After a moment, she looked up at Elphaba. "How was your holiday?"

"It was nice," Elphaba answered honestly.

"That's good. How is Fiyero?"

"Fiyero is fine. Glinda, what's going on with you?"

"Oh, Elphie, I've… I've just been thinking so much. I think my priorities haven't been right. I saw Dr. Dillamond's body when they brought him out, Elphaba, and something happened to me then…"

Elphaba didn't know what to say.

"I've also been thinking about Madame Morrible. Something about her scares me, Elphie. She's so kind to me, but I've started to get the feeling that her motives for being so kind aren't good."

Elphaba nodded at this. "I know what you mean. I don't care much for her myself."

Glinda sighed and rested her head on her arms, folded above her knees. The two girls sat in silence for a few minutes until Glinda took a deep breath and changed the subject. "Did anything interesting happen over break?"

Elphaba eyed Glinda, wondering what else was going on in her head and realizing that it was a genuine question, a curiosity, like the girl she had known. "Actually," she smiled, "something did. Fiyero arranged for my sister to come out and visit us as a surprise."

Glinda smiled. "That was very sweet of him."

"It was. My sister will be coming to Shiz this fall."

"What is your sister like?"

"She is… different. Not in the same way I am. My sister's color is normal, but she… well, she was born without arms."

"Oh! That's terrible."

"She's learned how to make due. Our Nanny and I have always helped her, which is why Nanny will be coming out with her to help care for her and chaperone her."

"Why is it that you don't require a chaperone?" Glinda asked suddenly. Then it dawned on her. "Fiyero?"

"Yes. My situation is a bit unique and it was determined that I would not need a chaperone."

Glinda fiddled with her wand, flowers danced on the water in the canal. "Well, I'm chaperone-less now. I have been for a few weeks."

"Do you have a roommate?"

Glinda shook her head. "No. When my Ama was late coming to Shiz because of an accident, I ended up the sole girl without a roommate over at Shiz."

"Isn't it nice that way, though?"

Glinda shrugged. "Not as much as you might think. It's so quiet. I'm not as talkative as I used to be, but I still want to talk to someone on occasion."

"I'm here," Elphaba said hesitantly, wondering if she'd regret offering her ear to the blonde.

"Oh, I know you are, Elphie." Glinda hugged her. "But no matter how many friends one has, living alone is still so lonely."

"Would you like to me to find out if Nessarose and Nanny would be able to live with you next year? I don't know if Nessa's the kind of company you would want, but she's a good girl."

"I do have an adjoining room – it was there for the Amas. Of course, Ama Clutch just stayed in the room with me because I had no roommate."

"Wait, what floor do you live on?"

"The first floor."

"That would be plausible, then. But I'm only offering. You don't have to. You might find that having a roommate is more tedious than not."

"Is that how you feel?"

Elphaba smiled to herself a little. "Not quite."

"You do love him, don't you?"

"I guess I do. But we're not talking about me, Glinda."

Glinda laughed half-heartedly. "You're right. It would be nice to have a roommate. And I am in need of a chaperone…"

"Then it's done. I'll write my sister." Elphaba bit her lip. She hadn't written home once since she'd been married. If only she and Glinda could've had this conversation before the spring holidays, she could've talked to Nessa. She supposed Frex would actually pay attention to the letter if it had something to do with her sister.

"That's very kind of you, Elphie." Glinda went back to staring across the canal.

"Are you sure there's nothing else you want to talk about, Glinda?" Elphaba couldn't help but feel that there was something about her Ama that Glinda wasn't saying.

Glinda bit the inside of her cheek for a moment. "I'm sure." She stood and wiped the grass from her dress. "I should get back. Classes start tomorrow and I need to review some of our sorcery lessons."

"I'll come with. I could use a refresher, too." Elphaba was a bit shocked by what she was saying, but she followed the blonde girl anyway.

That evening, she returned to the apartment a little tired. Fiyero looked up from the paper when she entered. "I was beginning to worry. I thought Glinda had kidnapped you and was forcing a makeover on you."

Elphaba laughed. "I don't think Glinda is much in the mood for makeovers anymore. I think she really has changed, Fiyero."

He nodded. "I can't say I'm surprised. She's been quieter since Dr. Dillamond died. I thought something was up."

Elphaba sat beside him. "I need to write Nessa. Glinda's Ama is ill and she has no roommate. They could share a room. Nessa knows no one here and I know Glinda would be willing to show her around."

"Good idea. But do that tomorrow. You look a little tired, and I know you'd hate to be too tired for classes tomorrow. You should get to sleep."

She smiled at him. "I am pretty exhausted. Glinda had me practicing sorcery for two hours. You would think sitting and watching things levitate and change colors wouldn't be so tiring!"

He squeezed her knee. "Well, it's a mental exercise, I guess. You mind if I stay up? I'm not tired yet."

"No, Fiyero, I'm going to force you to sleep," she remarked sarcastically. "Go ahead," Elphaba laughed.

"I was just being polite."

"I know." Elphaba made to stand up.

He grabbed her hand and kissed her on the lips quickly before letting her get up. "Good night, Elphaba. I love you."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Goodnight. I love you, too." She went into the bedroom and changed into her nightclothes. It had been a long day. Climbing into bed, she found herself thinking – a year previously she hadn't imagined herself here. Sure, she'd known she'd be married. But she didn't imagine actually liking it the way she did. She hadn't imagined she'd have friends, especially not friends like Glinda. So much had changed, and though she liked it, she worried it could change all over again.


	28. Chapter TwentySeven: Down to Business

**AN: Who's excited for **_**Out of Oz**_**? I've preordered mine already. Also, I apologize for the wait. I just got a job. Things are crazy. I have no time for anything. I barely use the computer (blame the smartphone for that one). I haven't written anything lately. But I have to keep these muscles in use, even if I'm not writing completely original stuff! This chapter went WAY off where I meant it to, but I really like what it did. Sometimes I like it when the characters surprise me like this.**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Down to Business**

Elphaba did not relish the thought of returning to Kiamo Ko for the summer. Glinda had continued to be strangely quiet and she couldn't help but think that there was something Glinda had to say that she needed to know. And three months without classes and away from educated minds (well, aside from Fiyero) seemed a boring prospect. Still, it wasn't as if she and Fiyero could simply stay at Shiz all summer. His parents would never stand for it. And Fiyero didn't seem to dread going home as much as Elphaba did.

When they arrived, they were greeted with news of a surprise bigger than Nessa's visit. "Your mother is pregnant!" Fiyero's father told his son proudly.

"Really, Mom?" Fiyero hugged his mother, whose stomach had only just started protruding. "That's great."

Elphaba nodded, not sure what to say in such a situation. She supposed, had Fiyero's mother given birth to him at an early age, that it would make sense that she could have another child. Maybe it would draw the attention away from the fact that she and Fiyero had not yet conceived (most likely because she was purposely trying not to). Or, as it would turn out, it would go the other way, and make it more obvious.

Elphaba didn't even have twenty-four hours before Fiyero's mother broached the subject of children with her. "When are you and my son going to give me some grandchildren?" She asked casually as the two women sipped at tea after dinner. Fiyero and his father were upstairs dealing with some "royal business," or other.

She struggled not to spit out her tea. "As soon as we finish school." _Longer than that if I can help it_. Elphaba did not look forward to having children.

"Why wait so long?"

Elphaba sighed. "Because it would be difficult for me to finish school with a baby."

"You don't need to finish school, dearie. Fiyero needs to, but there's no reason for you to worry about it." Fiyero's mother waved her hands.

"I want to finish school," Elphaba said.

Fiyero's mother raised her eyebrows. "I don't see why."

"I like school. And as Eminent Thropp, it would be good for me to be well educated." Elphaba hoped the mention of her station in Munchkinland would stop the woman from prodding her more.

"Was the previous Eminent Thropp educated at Shiz? Or educated at all past the age of sixteen?"

Elphaba bit her lip. "No."

Fiyero's mother simply shrugged.

"As I said, I like school."

"I hope that's the only reason, and not a, um, behavioral issue." Fiyero's mother said. "If you have any issues in that way, however, let me know and I would call the midwife. Aside from birthing children, she's an expert on matters such as those."

Elphaba remembered the midwife. She had "inspected" Elphaba for purity the day she had married Fiyero, and had done a quick examination just before they had left for Shiz the previous year. Elphaba did not want the woman invading her privacy any more than she already had. "We're fine. And we'll have children soon enough. Once we're out of Shiz."

Up in the throne room, Fiyero and his father's "royal business," was at a close and they were having a similar conversation. "If you are going to insist on waiting for children, that's fine. But tell me she's at least satisfying you?" Fiyero's father folded his arms across his chest.

"She's…" Fiyero didn't like the wording his father had used. "You asked me this last time we were home. You ask me this every time."

"I don't mean to be pushy, son. I just worry about your marriage. You are the crown prince, it is important that you eventually beget an heir."

"I know, Father. And my wife and I will. But we don't wish to immediately. She's a smart woman, and she knows how to avoid pregnancy if need be. That doesn't mean…"

"That's fine, son. Your mother's probably going to push the children more than I will. Being pregnant has, strangely enough, had her yearning not just for a child but for grandchildren. As long as I am alive, you do not need to worry about 'proving yourself' a king by having a child. But keep it in mind."

Fiyero had to wonder what kind of conversation poor Elphaba was having with his mother at that moment. "Are we done? I wanted to walk around the castle grounds with Elphaba a little before the summer becomes too hot to bear." He left the room before his father even finished nodding and entered the living room where Elphaba and his mother sat in a stony, awkward silence. Remembering his father's worry, he went straight to Elphaba and kissed her on the mouth. "Let's take a walk."

Elphaba cocked her head at him and took a deep breath, having lost her air when he stole the kiss. "If you say so." Her relief was clear on her face.

He stood up and slid an arm around her waist as they exited the room. When the door shut behind him, he removed his arm. "I thought I'd rescue you. My father implied what kind of conversation you were having with my mother and I thought it might not go well."

Elphaba laughed – not pleasantly. "You were right."

"I'm sorry. My father's been pushing it for a while, but my mother has got to be worse. They seem to think we don't know how to do this on our own. I think we could figure out how to have children eventually, don't you?"

"Eventually," she agreed slowly. "It's not customary for a woman to have been married this long and not either be pregnant or have had a child, is it?"

"Not out here. I'm sorry. Was it like that in Munchkinland?"

"Not quite that bad, but somewhat."

"And no one prepared you for what it was like out here?" Fiyero paused as another thought hit him. "No one could've, could they? Your father didn't bother to find out anything about us."

Elphaba shrugged. "Probably not. He only did what was necessary. Arrange the marriage, make sure I kept myself pure and hand me over when the time came."

"You make it sound like a business deal," Fiyero commented.

"That's what it was. Not just to my father, but to your parents, as well, Fiyero. That's why they're pushing the children thing."

Fiyero blinked. "I guess…" He looked a little hurt.

"They only wanted the best for you," Elphaba assured him, realizing that the comparison of his parents to her father had bothered him. "It would be good for the kingdom to have more allies, and easier on you when you become king. Having you marry me ensured that Munchkinland would ally with you. In politics, marriage is a business deal."

Fiyero took her hand. "It means more to me than that, though."

She looked at him. "But we'd be married even if it didn't mean anything more than that."

"Yes."

"And," Elphaba returned to the subject they'd been speaking about, "part of that deal was that I give you heirs. Another thing that makes a king seem more powerful to his people is his ability to produce children."

"But you didn't consent to that part of the deal."

"I didn't consent to any of it, Fiyero."

"You said 'I do,'" he reminded her.

"Because I wanted to go to Shiz."

"You consented. That was the part of the deal you wanted."

"And what was the part you wanted, Fiyero? You couldn't have possibly wanted me then."

"I had an inkling. And that's how things are done out here, Elphaba. So it didn't seem so much like a deal or trade to me as it did to you."

"Oh, but it was. As much as you want to romanticize it, Fiyero. For Oz's sake, they inspected me like a prized horse. They couldn't have you getting damaged goods."

"What do you mean they inspected you?"

"A doctor and midwife examined me the day we were to wed. They made sure I was pure, and that I was fertile. There were a lot of questions for my father, as well, about the genetics and if he thought the green skin would be passed down."

Fiyero swallowed hard. "You are not a horse. You are not a piece of property."

"Oh, I know that. It didn't bother me. I'm just trying to show you what your parents see. They don't care if you love me. They don't care if I love you. They don't care if I want children. They want what they traded for. A _fertile_ and powerful wife for their son is what they want."

"They'll get it eventually. But not now."

"I'm pretty sure there was no contract saying we had to have children at a certain time. At least I hope not."

"Did you get what you wanted out of this 'business deal,' Fae?" Fiyero asked softly.

"All I wanted was Shiz. And a husband who was at least respectful. I got more than what I wanted, Fiyero. I got you."


	29. Chapter TwentyEight: Homecoming

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Homecoming**

It was a dry summer, for which Elphaba was grateful – the humidity was hard on her skin. Heat was more tolerable when it was dry. She was able to spend more time outside than she had expected to. Sometimes, when Fiyero was in meetings with his father, she would walk the grounds and practice levitating small things she'd find in the dirt. If it was dark – sometimes Fiyero would be in his father's office late into the night – she'd light the way for herself. She found an old crystal ball in a storage room and once or twice tried to pull premonitions from it. On that, she was not very successful. Sometimes she'd see strange things: shoes, a house she did not recognize. But none of that made any sense to her.

Fiyero would return to their bedroom and still be restless. Merely following his father's movements all day and not doing anything for himself seemed to have him incredibly bored. The two of them were more eager than they had even expected to head back to Shiz.

Before they were even settled back in their apartment, Elphaba dragged Fiyero over to Glinda's – now Glinda and Nessa's, to see how everyone was getting on. Nanny, Nessa and Glinda were in the room trying to coordinate things in such a way that it would be easiest for Nessa to get around, and that if she were to fall, she would be least likely to hurt herself.

"Fabala! Fiyero!" Nessa smiled widely upon seeing them.

"Elphie!" Glinda jumped up, but stood back and let Elphaba hug her sister before she ran and squeezed Elphaba so tight she lost circulation is one of her arms.

"It's good to see you, both of you," Elphaba smiled.

"It's good to see you, too, Elphie!" Glinda was bouncing on her toes.

"I was just getting acquainted with Glinda. She's a very kind person. Thank you for suggesting I be her roommate, Fabala. Although I am a little shocked that you two are friends. It doesn't seem like you, dear sister."

Fiyero laughed at that. "I thought the same thing."

Later that afternoon, Glinda pulled Elphaba aside. "I think I know why my Ama is ill."

"What do you mean, Glinda?"

"I... I think... I think I did it. I made up this illness as an excuse to Madame Morrible as to why I shouldn't have to be placed in the larger quarters with ten other girls. I said my Ama was unable to care for that many girls. And now she has it. Did I wish it upon her? Is my sorcery more powerful than I thought and I did it to her?" Tears welled in the blonde's eyes.

"No! Glinda, no matter how much either of us wants something, we still have to know the spell to get it. And you didn't _want_ your Ama to be sick. You just didn't want to live with ten other girls. You did not do this."

"But then how come this illness is exactly like the one I described to Morrible?"

"I don't know." But Madame Morrible was a more powerful sorceress than they were. Well, she may not be, but she was a better trained sorceress at least. But why would she do such a thing? "Wait... when did you say your Ama got sick?"

"Around the same time Dr. Dillamond died..."

"Oh sweet Oz..."

"What? Elphie, what are you thinking?"

"The only other person you described this illness to was _Morrible_, Glinda. And I think... I don't know how to tell you this, but I think Morrible killed Dr. Dillamond. What if Ama Clutch saw something, Glinda? And Morrible cast a spell?"

"Elphie, you don't really think such a thing!" Glinda's eyes widened, but Elphaba thought perhaps it was not because she didn't believe her, but because she saw the connection, too.

"I do. That's exactly what I think!"

Glinda swallowed hard. After a moment she said, "It does make sense."

"It makes perfect sense."

"If only Ama Clutch could tell us what she saw," Elphaba muttered.

"I don't think she can. She's getting worse. She's still here, you know, in the infirmary."

"Maybe there's a way... a spell or something."

"I've tried, Elphie. I've felt so guilty that all I've been doing is trying to reverse it. There's nothing. We may never know what she saw."

Elphaba cursed.

"So," Glinda changed the subject carefully, "how's Fiyero?"

"He's the same as he's always been. And don't think you're going to distract me. I'll leave it alone for now, Glinda, but I'm going to look into this."

"I figured you would, Elphie."

Fiyero walked over to them then. "Catching up?"

Elphaba jumped, surprised by his presence. "You could say that."

"Well, Nessa's been pestering me to go to services with her so I'm here begging you to rescue me," Fiyero said in a low voice.

"Oh dear," Elphaba grumbled. She followed Fiyero back to the room her sister and Nanny resided in. "I'm sorry, Nessie, Glinda and I were catching up."

"That's fine. I was just asking Fiyero were they might hold Unionist services near campus."

"And asking him to join you?"

"Just because his people are godless doesn't mean..."

"Nessa! That is not true. Once, his people had many gods. And Fiyero is not going to services with you. Ever."

"You're not even letting him decide on that," Nessa whined.

"I'm not going to put him on the spot. Now, can we please leave the religion discussion for another time? We were going to meet some friends at the cafe in a little while and you need to finish unpacking."

Fiyero gave her a grateful look.

When they all gathered at the cafe, Elphaba felt more eyes drawn to them than usual. She could imagine how their little group must look. The Vinkun prince, the green girl and the girl with no arms. Nessa only added to the strangeness. Instead of feeling self conscious, she felt protective. She hoped Nessa could not feel the eyes on her the way Elphaba could.

She didn't seem to. Though she was quiet, she listened with great interest at the conversation around her and answered when she was asked a question. In fact, Elphaba noted, Nessa barely even spoke about Unionism.

"So, Nessa," Crope began, "since Elphaba was arranged to marry Fiyero, does that mean you're spoken for as well? Is it a family tradition?"

"No it is not. Elphaba was... married to Fiyero because of her position as the Third Thropp Descending. I, however, am of no importance."

"Since when did Crope know _why_ we're married?" Elphaba whispered to her husband. "I only recall telling Boq and Glinda."

"And in doing that, you told everyone."

Elphaba laughed. "That would probably be true. How long did they know, then?"

"Probably since day one."

"And they've never brought it up? Interrogated us about it?"

"Some people aren't as nosy as Glinda," he smirked.

"True enough."

"Stop your whispering over there!" Glinda cried from across the table. "It's not fair! You two can talk plenty later. We're all here now."

"Yes, we all are." Elphaba looked around the table. She felt Fiyero's hand on her knee. She saw her sister smiling shyly, her Nanny with her arms folded sternly. She watched Glinda laugh at something Tibbett said. Avaric grunted approval and some comment Boq made. And it was then she realized that she felt something strange, a sense of belonging. Here at Shiz, with her husband, with her sister, with her friends, she was finally starting to feel at home.


End file.
